João Almeida - Bota Lume

[roundabout]

I still think it's odd he leaves QS. That team has so few GC riders that there surely must be one-week stage races as well as at least one GT where Almeida can have GC ambitions if he wants. Has to be money then.

Roberto Heras likes your message.

 

[Cian]

Almeida is not good enough in the big mountains to compete even if he had not lost the time on stage 4.

Would it be that shocking if a 22 year old rider could still improve as a climber?

 

[carolina]

I still think it's odd he leaves QS. That team has so few GC riders that there surely must be one-week stage races as well as at least one GT where Almeida can have GC ambitions if he wants. Has to be money then.

On a CN article a few weeks ago they said he received a 3 million offer. With these kind of values it's hard to say no.

I think he can still manage top 10.

 

[groogster]

Would it be that shocking if a 22 year old rider could still improve as a climber?

i must agree with Pinot's goat on this one... ATM every single result of João in high Mountain stages shows us that he isn't a 1st class climber for sure, he's not a climber and time will tell if he will improve in the next years at high mountains. Despite that being said... he's an all rounder, strong in iTT, strong finish in small groups, very reliable at medium montains and hills and as far as we can see untill now, with good recovery capabilities in 3 weeks GT. He will never be the best at anything but ATM he's very good at everything except high mountains... He also has very good handling of the bike and the mindset for suffering...
I must emphasize once again... that at his age it always amazes me how he paces himself at the mountains stages... I'm pretty sure that he'll be a strong contender for GC at GT in years to come.

 

[groogster]

On a CN article a few weeks ago they said he received a 3 million offer. With these kind of values it's hard to say no.

I think he can still manage top 10.

In the interview published online today he said that the deal with the new team it's done... wonder what team it is... Maybe Bora but i would love if it was Trek Segafedo.
As far as top 10 is concerning ATM there are to many if...
- if remco stays strong and doesn't need to be pulled in a bad day
- If he doesn't crack at stages 14 and 16, especially the latest
- If some of the top15 GC contenders have a bad day
- If he performs accordingly his potential at the 30km itt in the last stage

Then yes it's possible to finish top10

 

[Panda Claws]

On a CN article a few weeks ago they said he received a 3 million offer. With these kind of values it's hard to say no.

I think he can still manage top 10.

Understandable that's a crazy amount.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Would it be that shocking if a 22 year old rider could still improve as a climber?

In the future maybe but he won't have improved enough since his last stage races a couple of months ago.

 

[groogster]

Understandable that's a crazy amount.

if those numbers are true it's really heads turning... but maybe a little less now could turn in a little more in a few years time if he choose the team that will allow him to be the leader in at least a GT for season.

 

[Cian]

In the future maybe but he won't have improved enough since his last stage races a couple of months ago.

I'm not saying that this is the most likely scenario, but if he has timed his peak correctly he could definitely show considerable improvement from a couple of months ago.

I'm not expecting him to be super strong in the third week but I do think you are very quick to write off the possibility.

 

[groogster]

I'm not saying that this is the most likely scenario, but if he has timed his peak correctly he could definitely show considerable improvement from a couple of months ago.

I'm not expecting him to be super strong in the third week but I do think you are very quick to write off the possibility.

As far as high mountain stages goes and ATM even if he has the legs for it, which i doubt, his giro current GC result is attached to Remco's performance, if remco stays strong maybe he can keep up and save some energy, if he needs to work to protect and pull remco then we'll never know if at the present time, he has improved or not at high mountains.
Despite that i believe from what we saw already that he´ll stay strong in the final week, it seems that he has been working his endurance levels, we'll see in the next 2 weeks...

 

[Panda Claws]

Roberto Heras likes your message.

I don't get it

 

[lenric]

I have always thought Almeida was similar to 2016's Dumoulin. Perhaps not as good (albeit younger at their GT's breakthrough), but not that much worse.

 

[lenric]

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if he goes to UAE.

 

[groogster]

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if he goes to UAE.

They surely have the budget but i think it'll be Bora

 

[groogster]

In the interview published online today he said that the deal with the new team it's done... wonder what team it is... Maybe Bora but i would love if it was Trek Segafedo.
As far as top 10 is concerning ATM there are to many if...

• if remco stays strong and doesn't need to be pulled in a bad day
• If he doesn't crack at stages 14 and 16, especially the latest
• If some of the top15 GC contenders have a bad day
• If he performs accordingly his potential at the 30km itt in the last stage

Then yes it's possible to finish top10

Well... as i said yesterday first nail in the coffin for João Almeida´s Top 10 pretentions... Remco had a bad day and almeida had to do his job pulling the leader (twice), if not Almeida would probably finish next to Caruso, Yates and Foss, he surely looked fine today. Let's hope that Remco or João stop having bad days from now on

 

[Bonimenier]

He must be punching the air that stage 4 and 11 weren't planned the other way around.

 

[pvieira91]

Looks very strong! Very sad for his bad day when was heavy raining. With remco further from the podium and assuming that remco will continue to struggle maybe the Team can give him a free card to attack more. In TT he can be as good as remco

 

[Volderke]

There is clearly a big conflict in the team. In Portuguese media, Almeida said he wanted to compete in stage 11, and the team made him wait and help Remco. He had to bite his lip in order not to say he was disappointed.
It's clear that Almeida's ambitions don't go well with the team orders. And I fear by the interviews of the DQS (Klaas Lodewyck) that he is too soft and unexperienced to manage this situation.

 

[Valanga]

Either inexperienced, in which case the DS should have told him to stay behind Remco at the sterratos as long as they are in the bunch, not in front.
Or a complete douche, not caring about his team mate. His GC ambitions are over, it's either helping Remco or going for stage wins - and that wasn't going to happen yesterday anyway.

By what he's saying, it sounds like the douche option is more plausible.

 

[CyclistAbi]

This are young guys and some expect they will behave like an experienced seasoned cyclists.

What likely played a role is Almeida is leaving Deceuninck–Quick-Step and he likely expected for Evenepoel to perform better on gravel. In the back of his mind was a disappointment he was dropped from GC race early, disappointment he has no future as a GC leader at Deceuninck–Quick-Step and a likely a thought kept him occupied on why should i drop back if Evenepoel can't cope.

 

[roundabout]

I don't know how the communication went, but I think it should have been made clear to Almeida after stage 4 that he is supporting Evenepoel on the sterrato stage if everyone else is dropped (if Evenepoel is still in contention).

 

[CyclistAbi]

We more or less all expected that and Evenepoel would lose around a minute, instead of two minutes. If that would happen.

But in the end that is what you get if roles in the team are not well established and if the team isn't planning things longer term. Almeida came to this race as a genuine GC contender and his future at Deceuninck–Quick-Step is a non existing one. And in addition Evenepoel struggled a bit more, then we have expected.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

His GC ambitions are over, it's either helping Remco or going for stage wins - and that wasn't going to happen yesterday anyway.

By what he's saying, it sounds like the douche option is more plausible.

He should have followed team orders, but probably still had (realistic?) GC hopes. A top-10 wasn't out of the question before yesterday's stage.

 

[groogster]

ATM just trying to get the facts straight... will post my opinion later on based on facts only...
But surely this is a big big Soap Opera that it’s turning into...

 

[Ricco']

His agent also did a distasteful tweet today, considering all that went on since yesterday. No need for this type of communication today, even if we all know that he is leaving Deceuninck and probably going to Bora.

I'm starting to side with Lefevere on this one.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1395286927734190080

View: https://twitter.com/joaoisme/status/1395286927734190080