Transportation from Vilamoura to Lisbon is included if you subscribe the Transfer Pack (check prices). We will provide transportation back to Lisbon, to all participants, on Monday after race at 10:30, arriving at Lisbon airport around 16:00.

If you prefer to get home by yourself there are regular buses from Vilamoura – you can get information from the town council’s website: 
http://www.cm-viladobispo.pt/portal_autarquico/vila_bispo/v_pt-PT/menu_turista/turismo/como_chegar/

If you subscribe the Transfer pack (check prices), departure from Lisbon will be at 7:00 on Saturday (day 0), just the day before stage 1. 
We will travel back to Lisbon on the Monday (day after last stage), leaving Vilamoura around 10:30. The earliest we will get to Lisbon is by 16:00, so please do not book a flight earlier than 16:30.

We will take care of it for you. We will have a van or a truck that will carry your bike box/bag from the Start to the Finish. Please warn us if you are bringing a bike box/bag so we make sure we have enough space for it.

We book the rooms for you for every night during the race (last sunday included). All these 9 nights are included in the paid entry fee.
Hotels in Lisbon (or some other place else) before and after the race are not included, but we can book these rooms for you. In Lutecia Smart Design Hotel which has very special rates for the event you can always mention that you are a participant of Transportugal.

The race philosophy is “hotel-to-hotel”. We believe you suffer enough during the day and deserve a warm shower and comfortable bed at night!

The least possible! You can have your own bag (max capacity 100L) or if you choose to sign the Bag Pack, we will give a race bag to each racer, and this is the only bag the Organization will transport for you during the race. Please remember we will be carrying 130+ bags each day, not just yours! So please take that in consideration and reduce the total weight as much as possible. 
This high quality bag is not returnable. It is yours and a race souvenir.

Nothing. Breakfast is provided in all the hotels each morning and we will book the evening meals for all the riders. Please make sure the organization knows, well in advance, if you have special dietary requirements/allergies.
Please note that it is not always possible to cater for vegetarians who eat neither meat nor fish. This is not common in Portugal and a proper meal without these 2 ingredients can sometimes be very hard to organize. If this is your case you may consider bringing some dietary supplements.

Everything you will need during that stage. In the majority of the days the course does not pass through but tiny villages where you won’t normally find anything to suit your immediate needs, so you should have everything you need with you right from the Start.

The weather in Portugal on those dates is usually mild, nevertheless warm (higher than 25ºC) or cold days (lower than 10ºC) can occur. 
Most probably we will have days of clear skies, however it won’t be much of a surprise if in one or two days we get rain and cold, alternating with showery and cloudy days - it did in some of the previous years, and a lot of people were not prepared for it.
The race goes to altitudes close to 2000m in Serra da Estrela, so expect very low temperatures up there and you may need to carry extra clothing as protection for the cold on that particular day.

There will be stages where it is possible to buy food and drinks in the villages the race passes through. However in some stages this is not the case, thus you should plan what to carry on a day by day basis in accordance with the briefing notes given for each stage, the weather forecast and your particular needs. In order to help you during the race, we have indicated POIs with all the places where you will be able to buy food and drinks. These special points will also be signaled on the track of the race on your GPS.

Next to the Finish Line or in the Race hotel, The Organizers will put up a race shop everyday where not only energy bars and isotonic drinks, but also others things like; spare tubes, nappy creams, tires, CO2 canisters, tire pumps, racing shirts and shorts, racing socks, recovery drinks, etc, can be bought.

ATM machines are very abundant in Portugal. Normally every village has at least one. However at the end of race day 6 we will be staying in a hotel that is not near a village, thus an ATM machine is not available in the vicinity of the hotel.

The Organizers do not pay for any extras in the hotels. The hotel will have an extras bill per room to be paid in full by the responsible occupants on checking out. Only accommodation, breakfast and dinner is part of the contracted entry pack, everything else is considered an extra.

We ask riders to always have their phone switched on for security reasons. We will never call a participant unless we have an emergency. Many international racers opt to buy a Portuguese SIM card for their phone during the race to avoid the cost of roaming.
You can buy one right off one of the Portuguese Mobile Service Providers in the arrivals hall of the airport.

Yes, in most of the hotels there is either free or paid wifi, or internet access booths in the lobby. In emergency cases you can always ask the Organizers for access codes to join the race mobile internet network.
Please remember that, during the race, all your belongings must compulsory be transported inside your race bag. Also take in consideration that the Organizers cannot be held responsible for any damage to whatever electronic or other equipment you carry inside your race bag.

No and Yes. We will set up a repair facility close to the finish line each day. We will have most of the common spare parts for bikes like tires, tubes, cables, chains, chain rings, cassettes, wheels, spokes, brake pads, handlebars, headsets, grips, saddles, seat posts (common sizes), disc brake rotors (common sizes and bolt patterns), derailleurs, pedals and several other minor things.
We will not carry any specific spares for rear suspension bikes, like shock absorbers, bushes, bearings etc.

Masseurs will be available after each stage each day. Massages will be provided in a hotel room, we will tell you where to go at the finishing line each day. If you are interested you should buy the massage pack available when registering, that guarantees 7 massages during the race. If bought on site during the race each 25-minute massage will cost you 60 euros.

Yes, if your companions have registered, they will get all the race information paperwork; maps, CP positions, classifications etc. Every day there will be a touristic program set up for them with a designated guide who will drive them to the points of interest along the race route.
If your companions have not signed up with us, they can get all the information about the stages in your race documents and follow the race independently.
In both cases, however, it must be remembered that companions cannot provide any assistance to the racers at any point while they are racing - this could lead to the racer being disqualified from the race.

Yes, companions can join you. If you want them to stay in the same hotel, please tell us know when you register, or as soon as possible. We will book hotels and evening meals for all companions staying at the race hotels and all payments for lodgings and meals must always be made to the Race Organization.