MEET THE TEAM
Built by cyclists, for cyclists. Delivered to your door, anywhere in the Algarve.
We are Brad and Juli. We live in Lagos, we know these roads, and we built Velo Algarve because renting a bike in the Algarve should be as good as riding one.
We came to the Algarve for the same reason most cyclists do — the roads, the light, the climbs, and the winter that never really arrives. What we did not expect was how difficult it was to rent a bike that matched the quality of those roads.
The options were either mid-range carbon on a two-year rental cycle, bikes set up by whoever happened to be working that day, or a shop pickup that burned the first morning of your trip on admin. For a region that attracts eighty thousand cyclists a year — training groups from the UK and the Netherlands, gran fondo riders from across Europe, triathletes prepping for race season — the rental standard simply was not keeping pace with the destination.
So we built what we wanted to ride ourselves. A small fleet of carbon road bikes, replaced every season so they are always race-ready. Delivered to your door, pre-fitted to your measurements, with GPX routes loaded and a saddle bag stocked for whatever the road throws at you. No shop. No queue. No wasted morning. Just clip in and go. That is the idea. We have not complicated it.
Co-founder
Local riding knowledge
Fleet and delivery
Brad grew up cycling in Toronto, where he was a fixture in the city's road cycling community for years before the Algarve pulled him south. He has ridden every significant road in the region — the Foia ascent, the Sagres coastal classic, the quiet inland circuits above Tavira that most visiting cyclists never find — and built up the kind of local knowledge that only comes from riding the same terrain across every season, in every condition, over several years. He knows where the roads are good, where the gradients are honest, and which café stop on the Monchique descent is worth the five minutes off the bike. When you ask for a route recommendation, you are asking someone who rode it last week.
Co-founder
Operations & Partnerships
Customer experience
Juli is the operational engine behind Velo Algarve. Fluent in Portuguese and deeply embedded in the Algarve's business and tourism community, she manages everything from customer experience and booking logistics to partnerships with local businesses, hotels, and cycling-adjacent organisations across the region. Her background is in client operations and business development — she understands how a service like this has to work at scale, and she is the reason the experience from first enquiry to final collection feels as considered as it does. If you have messaged Velo Algarve on WhatsApp and got a clear, fast answer, that is Juli.
THE BIKE
Not because it is a good marketing line — because a bike that has been rented hard for two years is not a race-ready bike. Every bike in the Velo Algarve fleet is current season. When you clip in on day one, you are riding what a rider at the front of a gran fondo would ride. That matters to us. It should matter to you.
THE SET-UP
Before we leave, we call you. Saddle height, reach, pedal type — Look or Shimano — confirmed before delivery. Your bike is adjusted before it is loaded. When it arrives at your door, it is your bike for the week. The only setup required is clipping in.
THE KIT
The saddle bag on every bike is stocked: TPU tubes, tyre plugs, spare SRAM batteries, a high-end mini electric pump. Not a token repair kit — everything you actually need to deal with whatever happens on a quiet road forty kilometres from home. A water bottle and two gels come with every rental. Because forgetting to pack before a ride is a universal experience.
THE CONCIERGE
Your concierge is available on WhatsApp throughout your rental. Route questions, mechanical concerns, a tweak to the saddle position after your first ride — message us. We are local, we are on the road regularly, and we will respond. This is not a chatbot. It is Brad or Juli.
A Local's View
The GPX routes that come with every rental are built from that. Not curated from a cycling website — chosen because we have been on them and they are good. When you ask us where to ride, we will tell you something specific, something honest, and something you will not find on a tourism board.
Book your dates online and we will be in touch to sort everything before we arrive
