Giro d'Italia Tiago Machado Frederico Figueiredo Óscar Avelino Antonio Carvalho Chun Wing Leung Giorgi Nareklishvili Rodrigo Nascimento Manuel Betilson
Machado is going to the Giro. Not a fancy GT this year as it seems it has assembled much greater interest this season, but Machado likes to be challenged. We haven't given him much support though... Avelino will also be here. We wanted to avoid the expected flurry of sprinters at the Vuelta and the usual interest at the Tour. A stage win would be pretty neat!
Vuelta a España Beñat Intxausti Bruno Borges Frederico Figueiredo Rui Pedro Vinhas Antonio Carvalho Antonio Barbio Lluis Mas Manuel Betilson
Beñat is leading in his home GT. He has Figueiredo and Vinhas for support in the high mountains, but we're also interested in breakaways hence why Borges has found a spot here.
Tour de France Beñat Intxausti Rafael Reis Rui Pedro Vinhas Chun Wing Leung Giorgi Nareklishvili Rodrigo Nascimento Antonio Barbio Manuel Betilson
For the Tour we bring a nice trio of climbers in Intxausti, Reis and Vinhas. While the spaniard is bound to be looking for a top10 result the other two could provide some entertainment up in the Alps and Pyrenees. The rest of the team is pretty much an attempt for a solid TTT squad.
Volta a Portugal Tiago Machado Rafael Reis Rui Pedro Vinhas Frederico Figueiredo Dmitriy Claeys Luis Afonso Chun Wing Leung Paul Junior Maroga
Machado knows how to win this, but we knew this would spark a lot of interest so we've brought some big guns to help him ignite the mountain stage. Claeys and Afonso offer much needed support in the hills, but we have to admit we're uneasy about the belgian's aspirations here.
@SN: I didn't remember he used to ride for you! Nice to know I can count on an Accumalux experienced rider. The Vuelta is definitely going to be his main target, but I agree that we will need luck with the hilly stages of the Tour to still come out as top10 contenders.
@cio93: What do you mean by "Portugal craze"? Gesink has been the only top tier rider to have ridden the race in recent years at least.
Come the end of 2018 it's time for a season review:
2018
Porto - Prio Pro Tour
Goals
Giro d'Italia
Top 3
Tour of California
Win
Tour de Suisse
Top 3
Chrono des Herbiers
Win
Team Standings
Top 10
Squad Tiago Machado Dimitri Claeys Óscar Avelino Rafael Reis Beñat Intxausti Bruno Silva Antonio Barbio Andre Looij Hugo Nunes Frederico Figueiredo Luis Afonso Chun Wing Leung Antonio Carvalho Reda Aadel Rodrigo Nascimento Lluis Mas Rui Pedro Vinhas Paul Junior Maroga Christian Egidio Girogi Nareklishvili Stefan Petrovski Manuel Betilson Bruno Borges
Major results
4 stage wins
20th in the Final PCT Team Rankings
NCs: Angola (RR & TT)
As expected the team struggled to stay afloat throughout the year. However, unlike last year, relegation was not avoidable, which means it's time for another stint in the PCT.
But that's not something our sponsors are interested in. After all this yoyo-ing of the last few years and with no major results to show for our portuguese financial backers have decided to pull the plug. They've been with us since 2013 and it's only fair they decide to part ways. We thank them immensely. Here are some of the major honours with Porto and Prio:
Spoiler
Our very first victory in 2013 with Avelino in Táchira
Taking the yellow jersey in the Grandissima with Machado in 2015
Machado quenching our 7-years-lasting thirst fo POR NC glory in epic conditions
The portuguese national team en route to a sensational TTT WC victory, with many current and former Porto riders in 2017
Porto - Prio's last ever win in the inevitable Volta a Portugal, with Claeys
Lastly a word about the future of the team. Fortunately there's been some interest around the block, but we can only confirm that the team may need to redirect its regional focus in order to finalize the sponsor deals. Further info will need to wait until the start of the 2019 pre-season.
It's going to be interesting to see where the new sponsors take you! Obviously unfortunate that you had to go down into PCT, but I am sure you'll bounce back!
Giro d'Italia
Vuelta a España
Tour de France
Volta a Portugal
Chun Wing Leung
Paul Junior Maroga
