The portuguese capital Lisbon has been chosen – along with Cape Town, South Africa – as one of the ports for the next Volvo Ocean Race, starting from Alicante in 2011. Lisbon will be the finish of the transatlantic leg, and it will be the first time that this historic port has played a part in the race.

Interest in hosting the Volvo Ocean Race was received from 34 European cities, 15 of which went through to the final phase of the bidding process.

“It is great to have such an iconic city included in our list of stopovers and Lisbon, especially, has wonderful sailing conditions, which will make for a very exciting in-port race,” said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad.

The next European port will be announced this Wednesday (3 March).