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João Almeida - Bota Lume

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First race of the year. No reason to worry.
Too late! Clearly a catastrophe! Career in tatters!
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Was he underwhelming? I saw him riding tempo at the top of the final group until Guerreiro’s launched the final sprint; that was what, 500/250 metres to go? Then he basically stopped peddling, wether because he had hit the red or because he had done his job and didn’t care about his GC placing. I wasn’t anything much different from him here.

PN and Catalunya will be a much better barometre for what we can expect from him at the Giro.
 
Was he underwhelming? I saw him riding tempo at the top of the final group until Guerreiro’s launched the final sprint; that was what, 500/250 metres to go? Then he basically stopped peddling, wether because he had hit the red or because he had done his job and didn’t care about his GC placing. I wasn’t anything much different from him here.

PN and Catalunya will be a much better barometre for what we can expect from him at the Giro.
There is the slightest of chances that he was being a tiny bit sarcastic.

That said, i did expect more from Almeida. It's not a big deal, it's february, it's the UAE tour, but he seemed to be struggling on the climb. There was a moment where Pogacar had to move up because Almeida had to leave a gap and kept dropping places. It was clearly going too fast at times for him.
 
There is the slightest of chances that he was being a tiny bit sarcastic.

That said, i did expect more from Almeida. It's not a big deal, it's february, it's the UAE tour, but he seemed to be struggling on the climb. There was a moment where Pogacar had to move up because Almeida had to leave a gap and kept dropping places. It was clearly going too fast at times for him.

My toddler kept me awake for most of the night, there's a chance that my sarky radar got damaged :grinning:
 
It's not a big deal, it's february, it's the UAE tour, but he seemed to be struggling on the climb. There was a moment where Pogacar had to move up because Almeida had to leave a gap and kept dropping places. It was clearly going too fast at times for him.

I think he's just really bad with quick changes of pace. He needs to go at his own rhythm.
 
Which is peculiar since he is actually quite punchy in a sprint.

In a way it is peculiar but in another it isn't as the sprint is the ending and constantly closing gaps is way more taxing.
I am still surprised about UAE tactics in general though as I was so sure they really were set out to double podium.

Maybe they weren't even set out for it in the first place and it was all in my own head. :smilecat:
 
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Today he was better. IMO just lost the chance to get into 3rd place in final GC because he tried to win the stage burning what he had left. He was quickly caught by Yates and by then he was on the red and could't cope with Bilbao. His decision to try to go for the stage win despite being brave wasn't that smart, imo after riding on the wheel of Bilbao he should have stayed with Poga and yates and in the final meters he only had to be in Bilbao wheel to beat him in sprint for the 3rd place in stage and in final GC. Just my 0,50 cents.
 
Today he was better. IMO just lost the chance to get into 3rd place in final GC because he tried to win the stage burning what he had left. He was quickly caught by Yates and by then he was on the red and could't cope with Bilbao. His decision to try to go for the stage win despite being brave wasn't that smart, imo after riding on the wheel of Bilbao he should have stayed with Poga and yates and in the final meters he only had to be in Bilbao wheel to beat him in sprint for the 3rd place in stage and in final GC. Just my 0,50 cents.
Yeah it was really weird tactics and it was pretty obvious Pog looked for him when turning around as he wasn't prepared to go for it himself first. Had Pog not said Almeida was going for the stage win I had only thought he was toying with Yates and the others on behalf of Pog. It looked way more as if he was just burning himself for Pog. Weird indeed.
 
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Yeah it was really weird tactics and it was pretty obvious Pog looked for him when turning around as he wasn't prepared to go for it himself first. Had Pog not said Almeida was going for the stage win I had only thought he was toying with Yates and the others on behalf of Pog. It looked way more as if he was just burning himself for Pog. Weird indeed.

Agree, as soon as Almeida directly passes them after the bridge was made by Bilbao it seemed that was part of UAE tactics to put pressure on Yates so he had to burn himself chasing Almeida but after Pogacar replied to the Journalist question about UAE tactics saying that Almeida tried to go for the stage win made me conclude that young Almeida also needs to evolve about racing tactics and opponents moments form so he can make better judgments. Its not the first time that I see him making bad calls or being badly positioned in the pack.
 
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Agree, as soon as Almeida directly passes them after the bridge was made by Bilbao it seemed that was part of UAE tactics to put pressure on Yates so he had to burn himself chasing Almeida but after Pogacar replied to the Journalist question about UAE tactics saying that Almeida tried to go for the stage win made me conclude that young Almeida also needs to evolve about racing tactics and opponents moments form so he can make better judgments. Its not the first time that I see him making bad calls or being badly positioned in the pack.
I wonder if it was his or the team idea as Almeida did seem just as happy anyway. But positioning; that was where QS made him so good. I worry his UAE squad won't be as good with that. We'll see of course but...
 
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I wonder if it was his or the team idea as Almeida did seem just as happy anyway. But positioning; that was where QS made him so good. I worry his UAE squad won't be as good with that. We'll see of course but...

Only Almeida or Gianetti can answer that. He was clearly having at this UAE a free role, only saw him working for Pogacar at Jebel Jais for about 2k in the last 4k. I cant say if Almeida is going to improve his positioning at UAE, only time will tell but they surely seemed very strong as a team, Majka and Bennett impressed me as domestiques, Almeida more or less at the same level as he was last year at UAE tour and Poga keeps being Poga. Looking forward for The Giro, TDF and La Vuelta but wouldn't be surprised if we saw Pogacar winning both TDF and La Vuelta and Almeida ending Top 3 at the Giro.
 
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