João Almeida - Bota Lume

[carolina]

Like i said on the first page, he's a fighter. They will not easily "drop" him and be able to call it a day. If Algarve, Burgos, Tour de l'Ain etc have taught us anything, it is that he can sustain his pace and doesn't really crack. I think he will gradually lose time in the real mountain stages. A minute in one stage, 40 seconds in another etc. I agree it's unlikely he will win, but he could still finish top5, which would still be a huge result for him.

This ^^

I don't think he'll explode because he always rides the mountains at his own pace. He will loose some time in several stages, but should be able to finish the race inside the top 10 or even top 5.

 

[Red Rick]

Pozzo to the rescue.

You may change team but you never truly leave drop Nibali

 

[wheresmybrakes]

I find it funny how folk are dissing this lad as a no hope as soon as the high mountains come around but were quite willing to say that Remco would have been favourite for the Giro without any previous in the high multi mountain back to back stages and over 3 weeks. Give him a break and let's just enjoy him. He's there on merit and none of the other favourites (what's left of them) have shown anything as such to deserve where he is at the moment. To me, it looks like Nibali is looking for one big stage to gain all the time he needs and hold on until Milan (if it gets there). Keep going young man, if this race gets cancelled the others would have wished they'd have done something earlier.

 

[Leinster]

Like i said on the first page, he's a fighter. They will not easily "drop" him and be able to call it a day. If Algarve, Burgos, Tour de l'Ain etc have taught us anything, it is that he can sustain his pace and doesn't really crack. I think he will gradually lose time in the real mountain stages. A minute in one stage, 40 seconds in another etc. I agree it's unlikely he will win, but he could still finish top5, which would still be a huge result for him.

Agree with all of this.

I think the big advantage he has right now is his team. Quickstep, strange to say it, appears to be the strongest climbing team in the race. Probably this was the squad they planned to bring to support Remco, and so far they’ve done a great job. 4 in the 20-man lead group today (only team with more than 2), and Ballerini in 21st for good measure. We’ve rarely, if ever, seen Almeida isolated, and it’s going to be very hard for other teams to create that in week 3.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I find it funny how folk are dissing this lad as a no hope as soon as the high mountains come around but were quite willing to say that Remco would have been favourite for the Giro without any previous in the high multi mountain back to back stages and over 3 weeks. Give him a break and let's just enjoy him. He's there on merit and none of the other favourites (what's left of them) have shown anything as such to deserve where he is at the moment. To me, it looks like Nibali is looking for one big stage to gain all the time he needs and hold on until Milan (if it gets there). Keep going young man, if this race gets cancelled the others would have wished they'd have done something earlier.

I agree mostly, but with Remco there were plenty of people saying he hadn't proven anything either. And still, just looking at what both had achieved, Remco greatly overshadowed Joao in basically everything except punching/sprinting. For me, it's not necessarily contradictory.

 

[Forever The Best]

Importance of team strength here isn't that big and it's all gonna come down to the high mountain legs.

Yeah, the final week is very hard. He needs to be among the best 2-3 climbers to win this ( assuming no cancellations/shortenings ).
Stage 17 has an easier final climb but is 203 km and has big climbs like Valbona or Bondone before.
Stage 18 has Stelvio from Prato as the penultimate climb in a 207 km multi-mountain stage.
Stage 20 have the Agnello-Izoard combination before the easier finishing climbs of Montgenevre-Sestriere, in a stage of 198 km.

A not so great climber can lose minutes in stage 18 or stage 20. Or, let me state like this, if this would have been the final week of 2017 Giro, I don't think Dumoulin would have won it.

 

[ExperienPT]

As a Portuguese, I'm somewhat surprised (not really really surprised cause we had hope in a TOP 10 performance) and very happy with him, but I still think he will lose the "maglia rosa" in the coming mountains. TOP 10 would be good and TOP 5 would be amazing, to win would be just without words to describe it ahah....


Força João!!!

 

[dicanio_michael]

I find it funny how folk are dissing this lad as a no hope as soon as the high mountains come around but were quite willing to say that Remco would have been favourite for the Giro without any previous in the high multi mountain back to back stages and over 3 weeks. Give him a break and let's just enjoy him. He's there on merit and none of the other favourites (what's left of them) have shown anything as such to deserve where he is at the moment. To me, it looks like Nibali is looking for one big stage to gain all the time he needs and hold on until Milan (if it gets there). Keep going young man, if this race gets cancelled the others would have wished they'd have done something earlier.

So true. I doubt he would crack big time in the mountains. His climbing style is riding tempo. Losing time in Etna doesn't mean he will lost 3 - 4 minutes in mountain stages. He could pace himself and gradually grab seconds back.
Depends on how he performs in second week TT, which is an unknown factor to everyone, he should be still considered as one of the top favorites.

 

[KZD]

I have been impressed by his consistency, and looking at how things stand now, I only put Nibali, Fuglsang and Kelderman ahead of him regarding chances to win the Giro, but if stages 18 and 20 suffered major changes due to the weather he could even take the Giro.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I find it funny how folk are dissing this lad as a no hope as soon as the high mountains come around but were quite willing to say that Remco would have been favourite for the Giro without any previous in the high multi mountain back to back stages and over 3 weeks.

Even if none of them had ridden "the high mountains" before the Giro I would say there was a pretty big difference between the two of them on the "medium mountains" in Burgos for example and one could always think that there is a certain correlation between the medium mountains and the high mountains.

Also, the main reason why people are dismissing Almeidas chances in the Giro is probably the fact that he got dropped by 8 guys from the GC group on Etna and by like 10 guys from GC group on Roccaraso. Yes he have looked strong in the murito on most stages, but being dropped by a lot of riders on both Etna and Roccaraso doesn't bode well for the high mountains waiting.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

WOW what a ride!
I must say that his TT level in this Giro really have surprised me!

 

[SafeBet]

Impressive time trial. He didn't look particularly good in the central part but he absolutely smashed both the Muro and the last hilly part. Now the hard work begins.

 

[Parrulo]

I am affraid that tomorrow he might pay for today's effort.

But Keldermen also went all out and he is the closest rival

Regardless, barring a major bonk, this is looking good for a top 6-10.

 

[BlueRoads]

It's amazing how many are still dismissing him as a podium contender. Yes, he will very probably lose time in the high mountains - but how much? If he manages to limit that time, he'll be very fine...

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Well done young man, keep going with your head down. Don't worry when Nibs goes on a desperation attack in the mountains, he will try and make you lose this race.

 

[Red Rick]

I am affraid that tomorrow he might pay for today's effort.

But Keldermen also went all out and he is the closest rival

Regardless, barring a major bonk, this is looking good for a top 6-10.

I think worrying about paying for xyz effort in ITTs isn't all that warranted. The worry is that he simply isn't a top 5 climber this Giro in which case he very likely loses, but still gets a decent end result for a 22 year old GT debutant.

 

[Akuryo]

I am affraid that tomorrow he might pay for today's effort.

But Keldermen also went all out and he is the closest rival

Regardless, barring a major bonk, this is looking good for a top 6-10.

Why? Do you think the others only did their sunday coffee ride effort? He was just better than most others today. Not saying that he is the best rider in this Giro, but in the two time trials he was just one step above everyone else. So no, we wont pay for just being a better time trialer.

 

[dicanio_michael]

It's amazing how many are still dismissing him as a podium contender. Yes, he will very probably lose time in the high mountains - but how much? If he manages to limit that time, he'll be very fine...

It is simply just too much Dutch and Italian here.
Just like everyone thought Almeida could not perform in a long TT as he has never done so long before, today he proved it wrong.

 

[jmdirt]

Keep that pink kit until the end man!

 

[jsem94]

If he makes the podium it'll be a huge success. Incredible ride so far. I think we can all feel that bad mountain day coming, but my oh my he's looking real well and embracing the leader role quite well.

Also, what's up with all of these young guys dominating now? Wtf?

 

[md1975]

If he makes the podium it'll be a huge success. Incredible ride so far. I think we can all feel that bad mountain day coming, but my oh my he's looking real well and embracing the leader role quite well.

Also, what's up with all of these young guys dominating now? Wtf?

Apparently Covid is the key to the new generation to come forward. We had a 21 year old win the TdF. And I will not count out on a 22 year old winning the Giro. He could very well ride like Big Mig but a bit different. Steady cadence and lose enough to give up the jersey

 

[Akuryo]

So much for "paying for his efforts in the TT". Still the 4th best rider of the day, and another day in pink. Kelderman might take this, but after this performance, a podium is still more than possible. And for a neo pro and GT debutant, that is an AMAZING result. Really proud of him.

 

[SafeBet]

Chapeau. Dug deep and kept the jersey like a true champion. I'm not sure how he will handle the third week, but these first 2 are a clear sign he will be a GC rider in the future, I believe.

 

[Bonimenier]

Now he's secretly hoping for a bunch of positive coronatests so the Giro gets stopped, because it doesn't seem like he will be able to hold off Kelderman in the GC.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Apparently Covid is the key to the new generation to come forward. We had a 21 year old win the TdF. And I will not count out on a 22 year old winning the Giro. He could very well ride like Big Mig but a bit different. Steady cadence and lose enough to give up the jersey

They are both the same age, only 2 months apart. One had his birthday the day after the Tour, the other two months ago.