Not being the smartest guy on my street I truly believe that doing 2 GT's per season in such young ages will take a toll in the future. 42 days of high intensity racing while you're still developing can't bring anything good. We are in a period that junior riders come directy to the WT and start to ride in GTs. Maybe it's evolution who knows, in my books it's way too early and to demanding to such young riders.
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Exactly. MvdP already speaks about that he's "getting old". He's 27 and already panicking about decline. The pressure on young riders is insane.
Maybe Valverde should start doing seminars in the off season
MVdP isn't a good example. He went from never doing 3 weeks to trying 2 GTs in the same season. It was a disaster meant to happen, I don't understand what the team was thinking (besides sponsor money, of course).
Almeida already had GT experience at a very good level, transitioning to 2 GTs in a season is natural. Next year he'll have to work for Poga, so he can afford to lose time in many stages and it won't be so taxing on his body.
Almeida already had GT experience at a very good level, transitioning to 2 GTs in a season is natural. Next year he'll have to work for Poga, so he can afford to lose time in many stages and it won't be so taxing on his body.
Regarding VDP, not to forget that he is relatively fresh on the road but has been doing massive seasons among the pros in cyclocross already since his first year U23 (2014/2015 season). He is already since that period doing great training loads. And even if cross is relatively less competitive than road, the difference in his cross level between 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 is not that high.
Would love it but don’t want to be so confident, he might even bonk at some point. But if he has the legs he could be with the best. I’m betting in MAL for tomorrow
Let's see tomorrow. He seems to be improving and a lot of his training and development has been focus in long high altitude climbs. Maybe because of the Giro he lost on the Stelvio.
I missed today's stage as I had given up on my favourite riders and then I looked at PCS and thought I was hallucinating with Almeida at 4 place and Rogla taking time on Remco. Such a happy day despite my not having seen the stage. All top 4 riders today I like. Really content
I'm still in disbelief.
He trained a lot in Sierra Nevada, so he should be well prepared for tomorrow.
Top5 here we go
He trained a lot in Sierra Nevada, so he should be well prepared for tomorrow.
Top5 here we go
I missed today's stage as I had given up on my favourite riders and then I looked at PCS and thought I was hallucinating with Almeida at 4 place and Rogla taking time on Remco. Such a happy day despite my not having seen the stage. All top 4 riders today I like. Really content
Never give up.
Roglic and Almeida certainly wouldn't.
I am not so surprised by his ride today. His climbing has been on an upwards trajectory. In the Giro I know he pulled out with Covid but that was before stage 18 and at that time many saw him as a big threat. So Almeida is the best performing rider so far this Vuelta of those who finished or nearly finished the Giro. I hope he stays strong for the final week I like his tenacity.
I wonder if we should conclude that while Almeida struggles in rain he likes the heat? Kinda like Roglic.
I got a weird idea tonight; if Lopez would cooperate with Roglic maybe Remco and Almeida might benefit from cooperation as well. The thought just amused me. If they would take turns for each other maybe they both would stay put. Almeida would gain in GC and Remco stay at the front.
Instead of riding against each other I mean. Just an amusing thought.
I got a weird idea tonight; if Lopez would cooperate with Roglic maybe Remco and Almeida might benefit from cooperation as well. The thought just amused me. If they would take turns for each other maybe they both would stay put. Almeida would gain in GC and Remco stay at the front.
Instead of riding against each other I mean. Just an amusing thought.
Imagine Almeida, Mas, and Evenepoel all working together with Patrick in the team car.Almeida and Evenepoel working together!! That is blasphemy!!
They did in Emilia last year. And Almeida finished second behind Rogla. At least it did look like that.Almeida and Evenepoel working together!! That is blasphemy!!
Today his positioning and descending took him out of race dispute again... So bad. He really needs special and intense training. The amount of wasted energy on successive final climbs on a GT by going alone and exposed the majority of time is mind blowing (and leg painfull).
He doesn't react to sudden accelerations, because doing exactly that is what costs the most energy and hampers efficiency. That means as soon the race explodes, he gets dropped regardless of his position. I don't understand why everybody keeps insisting he should be better placed and react to those accelerations. Fighting for position and responding to attacks come at a cost, and Joao has become a master at pacing himself and conserving energy. Since he isn't going to respond to the attacks and accelerations, it also makes little sense in wasting energy fighting for position. On a 20km climb, it is only a 20 meter disadvantage, meaning negligible.
Others go in the red too much too often, which in the long run only hurts them. As soon as you go in the red by reacting to attacks, you will choke yourself and hurt your output going further. Imagine doing a 10km run, and at one point you have to put in a 100 meter all-out sprint. What is the best point to do that? At the start, or before the finish? If you do it at the start, you will need to do those 9.900 meters while recovering from the all out sprint, hurting your output for the entire duration of the effort. While if you do it before the finish, you can run those 9.900 meters at the most optimal pace and efficiency. So even if you might lose a few seconds in the 100 meter all out sprint at the end compared to at the start, you will win a lot more over the 9.900 meters that way. It's the same exact thing with Joao. He knows he isn't the same calibre talent as the absolute best currently, but he's also not been at his very best this year. So he has to be pragmatic and smart. And that's exactly what he's doing.
I agree he should not respond to attacks and sudden accelerations as he can pace back, but when you are in the peloton or a big group like yesterday and you enter a narrow steep ramp and someone drills it hard in front, if you are in position 30 like Joao yerterday you almost immediately lose 30 seconds. If he was, let's say, in position 10 he would get dropped but recovered to the front group in less than a km. It cost him making more than 10k of the climb alone.
If he would be in the front, he would not lose 30 seconds, he would lose 25. And he would have wasted energy for miles trying to be at the front because you don't know when an attack will happen so you have to be there all day and waste energy that will cost you more than those 5 seconds.
He isn't a new Valverde, so for him this doesn't make sense. He gets the most out of doing his own pace and play the long game.
For reference: This is a video of the closest to a crash he's had in the two years I've followed his races. I think it's astonishing for someone 22-24 year old with those results. Also both him and Hindley struggling with jackets during that giro is a fun watch too.
Apart from that he did hurt his knee on the handlebar once when riding for Remco. But it was before this (obviously).
https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/g...ads-with-another-rider_vid1367916/video.shtml
Apart from that he did hurt his knee on the handlebar once when riding for Remco. But it was before this (obviously).
https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/g...ads-with-another-rider_vid1367916/video.shtml
OK, so for you all the efforts and risks the riders and teams take to position themselves is just waste of energy.
It just proves how risk avoiding his riding is. Maybe it's the reason for his bad positioning and descending skills.
For the type of rider he is and the way he rides, who in his case does not have to defend a leader's jersey, who has no immediate shot at gaining a lot of GC places, i do think this makes a lot more sense.
But you seem to be missing my point. It is that he is not a punchy climber. There are climbers for whom such accelerations come naturally. Often those are the climbers that are not necessarily the best at riding a constant pace on their own for long climbs. Valverde did not have problems reacting to short attacks, while on the other hand he benefited from following in the wheel. For Almeida these short bursts do not come naturally, and sitting in the wheel is often not a big advantage because he has to ride the pace he feels best at, and often does that alone.
Actually disagree he is not a punchy climber... Just watch some stage finishes on his first Giro and last year Poland. I think he just developed an extreme fear/obsession of not going over the red line unless he sees the finish line.
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