João Almeida - Bota Lume

[CyclistAbi]

If tomorrow Almeida finds his Angliru legs he has a chance of winning GC

There is a slim chance but only if the UAE team as a whole will support such effort to the fullest, otherwise i don't see on how he could crack Jonas alone in such way. Jonas won't crack unless put under extreme pressure. Then it's possible, considering what we seen so far.

But i wouldn't be surprised if they will rather target another (useless) stage win and not by Almeida.

 

[greyclouds]

There is a slim chance but only if the UAE team as a whole will support such effort to the fullest, otherwise i don't see on how he could crack Jonas alone in such way. Jonas won't crack unless put under extreme pressure. Then it's possible, considering what we seen so far.

But i wouldn't be surprised if they will rather target another (useless) stage win and not by Almeida.

Surely UAE will ride for Almeida but that might not be enough. They will need to ride Navacerrada’s first pass hard to test Jonas and get Almeida over the top first - there’s 6” there which together with the finish line bonis might be a game changer either way.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Surely UAE will ride for Almeida ...

Yeah, about that.

 

[dazaau]

Surely UAE will ride for Almeida but that might not be enough. They will need to ride Navacerrada’s first pass hard to test Jonas and get Almeida over the top first - there’s 6” there which together with the finish line bonis might be a game changer either way.

They may find an alliance with RBH as they will need to fry pidcocks legs before the final climb to have a hope of the podium.

Really there should be two teams looking to defend their positions and two trying to blow it up.

 

[Cycling111]

I said it on the day of Angliru, which was the most difficult day to say,for me, Almeida was closer to fourth place in the Tour than Vingegaard.

With the fatigue from the Tour, I don't think Almeida would have even been equal to Vingegaard in Angliru.

For me, Almeida would have had a Tour similar to last year. This year he would have finished third due to Remco's level, but he wouldn't have challenged againtsVingegaard for second place under any circumstances.

He's improved; he's at the peak age for a cyclist, 26-30. But I also think he's chosen the calendar better.
Last year, he didn't win Switzerland because he left it to Adam, but already he was far superior to the rest.

We'll see if he can win a GT. Next year, it looks like Vingegaard will go to the Giro, and we don't know when Pogacar will be at the Vuelta.

It must be a little frustrating to feel so close yet so far away at the same time. Meanwhile, Hindley and Kuss have a GT. He has to keep trying to see if he can get one, but he's definitely behind Vingegaard.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I said it on the day of Angliru, which was the most difficult day to say,for me, Almeida was closer to fourth place in the Tour than Vingegaard.

With the fatigue from the Tour, I don't think Almeida would have even been equal to Vingegaard in Angliru.

For me, Almeida would have had a Tour similar to last year. This year he would have finished third due to Remco's level, but he wouldn't have challenged againtsVingegaard for second place under any circumstances.

He's improved; he's at the peak age for a cyclist, 26-30. But I also think he's chosen the calendar better.
Last year, he didn't win Switzerland because he left it to Adam, but already he was far superior to the rest.

We'll see if he can win a GT. Next year, it looks like Vingegaard will go to the Giro, and we don't know when Pogacar will be at the Vuelta.

It must be a little frustrating to feel so close yet so far away at the same time. Meanwhile, Hindley and Kuss have a GT. He has to keep trying to see if he can get one, but he's definitely behind Vingegaard.

Humans need to target GTs aliens aren't racing.
Next year, I believe Pogacar will do Tour-Vuelta because Vingegaard will race the Giro and I expect Pogacar to win more comfortably the Tour.
Vingegaard- Giro
Pogacar- Tour
Pogacar- Vuelta

Nothing for humans

 

[tobydawq]

Too bad with the rib injury from the Tour, I think that prevented him from winning this race (because Vingegaard was very subpar too, if both would be on their highest level, no chance). But he's getting closer and closer even if on paper he has only moved from 4th to 2nd since his debut Giro five years ago.

But I really would like to see him win a Grand Tour. I find his unflappable nature highly amusing and am curious to see how he would react to actually winning one of these.

 

[AmRacer]

Too bad with the rib injury from the Tour, I think that prevented him from winning this race (because Vingegaard was very subpar too, if both would be on their highest level, no chance). But he's getting closer and closer even if on paper he has only moved from 4th to 2nd since his debut Giro five years ago.

But I really would like to see him win a Grand Tour. I find his unflappable nature highly amusing and am curious to see how he would react to actually winning one of these.

He must wait for one GT without Pogi and Jonas.

 

[Netserk]

Too bad with the rib injury from the Tour, I think that prevented him from winning this race (because Vingegaard was very subpar too, if both would be on their highest level, no chance). But he's getting closer and closer even if on paper he has only moved from 4th to 2nd since his debut Giro five years ago.

But I really would like to see him win a Grand Tour. I find his unflappable nature highly amusing and am curious to see how he would react to actually winning one of these.

If he had fought for the Tour podium, I don't think he'd have been better here. He has had a busy schedule.

 

[tobydawq]

If he had fought for the Tour podium, I don't think he'd have been better here. He has had a busy schedule.

He has indeed.