João Almeida - Bota Lume

[greyclouds]

I think Yates would have been 3rd if he hadn't tested positive. In any case, it's notable that the Giro riders who performed at the highest level here didn't complete the Giro (López, Almeida, Yates).

They are not all the same - Yates did 16 stages at the Giro, Almeida 17 and MAL 3.

On Yates, we can’t really tell. He would have done well I think, could have finished 3rd, could have finishes in a lower top-10 placement.

Well done to Almeida for doing two almost complete GTs at a very high level. We’ll see what he is really made of on next year’s Giro.

 

[groogster]

Just to give some insight about what to expect from Almeida in 2023...

Just read a chronicle made by Gonçalo Moreira (Portuguese Eurosport commentator) in a Portuguese cycling site about Almeida´s future as a GT contender.
He is someone close to Almeida, went to Sierra Nevada UAE preparation camp last April (preparation camp towards "Il Giro") to be a few days around him and shared something he witnessed between Almeida and his Performance coach San Millán just after Almeida finished a climb at Hazallanas.
After San Millán collected and viewed Almeida's lactate threshold results he said (quote):

- You are very good atm but next year will be the year! Just wait for our comeback at the preparation camp next year and you will see how much better you will be!

Reading this made me wonder if Almeida can make the jump needed from being a Top5 contender, which he already is, to becoming a future GT winner.

In this chronicle Gonçalo also wrote that Almeida is surely bound to go for the Giro once again as his primarily goal for next season.

 

[ExperienPT]

He seems out of sync with the team... Next year with Costa gone he will be even more isolated. I hope they let him go somewhere he is valued!

 

[noob]

Just to give some insight about what to expect from Almeida in 2023...

Just read a chronicle made by Gonçalo Moreira (Portuguese Eurosport commentator) in a Portuguese cycling site about Almeida´s future as a GT contender.
He is someone close to Almeida, went to Sierra Nevada UAE preparation camp last April (preparation camp towards "Il Giro") to be a few days around him and shared something he witnessed between Almeida and his Performance coach San Millán just after Almeida finished a climb at Hazallanas.
After San Millán collected and viewed Almeida's lactate threshold results he said (quote):

- You are very good atm but next year will be the year! Just wait for our comeback at the preparation camp next year and you will see how much better you will be!

Reading this made me wonder if Almeida can make the jump needed from being a Top5 contender, which he already is, to becoming a future GT winner.

In this chronicle Gonçalo also wrote that Almeida is surely bound to go for the Giro once again as his primarily goal for next season.

Holy Moses! Let's have a meet up in the clinic

 

[groogster]

He seems out of sync with the team... Next year with Costa gone he will be even more isolated. I hope they let him go somewhere he is valued!

A little harshed if you ask me... Almeida already knew that the big dog was at UAE (Poga) and that Ayuso was also a "top dog" in potential. Unless Matxin lied to him he was full aware of the reality he was going to face at UAE.
He won't have the domestiques to work for him at those mountain stages when needed to close gaps, that's for sure.
As for leaving, i´m not seeing any WT team that will be able to buy him from UAE. He's under contract until the end of the 2026 season so a big "football transfer" won't happen.

 

[noob]

A little harshed if you ask me... Almeida already knew that the big dog was at UAE (Poga) and that Ayuso was also a "top dog" in potential. Unless Matxin lied to him he was full aware of the reality he was going to face at UAE.
He won't have the domestiques to work for him at those mountain stages when needed to close gaps, that's for sure.
As for leaving, i´m not seeing any WT team that will be able to buy him from UAE. He's under contract until the end of the 2026 season so a big "football transfer" won't happen.

I think he might not have been aware of the lack of domestiques, since he wanted GT leadership, which in most cases includes mountain domestiques.

I wonder if Matxin might sugar coat things.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Almeida: " I need GT leadership"
UAE : "Ok"
Almeida signs the contract
After the GT race
Almeida: " Hey, U said i will get GT leadership. Why no teammates for me?"
UAE : "Yes, u got GT leadership but no one promised anything about teammates"

 

[BR2]

Well, we already wondered why he would sign (and such a long contract) at UAE when he did it, right? It didn't make that much sense then, and it doesn't now, apart from the money and security.

 

[BR2]

Just to give some insight about what to expect from Almeida in 2023...

Just read a chronicle made by Gonçalo Moreira (Portuguese Eurosport commentator) in a Portuguese cycling site about Almeida´s future as a GT contender.
He is someone close to Almeida, went to Sierra Nevada UAE preparation camp last April (preparation camp towards "Il Giro") to be a few days around him and shared something he witnessed between Almeida and his Performance coach San Millán just after Almeida finished a climb at Hazallanas.
After San Millán collected and viewed Almeida's lactate threshold results he said (quote):

- You are very good atm but next year will be the year! Just wait for our comeback at the preparation camp next year and you will see how much better you will be!

Reading this made me wonder if Almeida can make the jump needed from being a Top5 contender, which he already is, to becoming a future GT winner.

In this chronicle Gonçalo also wrote that Almeida is surely bound to go for the Giro once again as his primarily goal for next season.

Hm, but that's what people will say to the riders, how else would they be motivated? Not saying it's wrong, but it doesn't mean much to me.

 

[groogster]

Hm, but that's what people will say to the riders, how else would they be motivated? Not saying it's wrong, but it doesn't mean much to me.

Agree partially, all coaches want to motivate their athletes but, Almeida’s brain is greater then a chicken’s brain and I’m sure San Millán knows that so don’t think that he was lying to him but saying what he truly believes that Almeida can achieve next year. If San Millán strategy’s for leading athletes is lying to them he will only succeed for a short time.
But I guess we will have to take all of this with a grain of salt and wait for next year to see if there’s an improvement on Almeida.
Some of the improvements he needs are easily fixed if You ask me, like his positioning at crucial times that have been costing him lots of energy that could be spent more efficiently later on stages.
His iTT being worse, now more than ever, I think that’s related to UAE itt setups and last… never saw a domestique besides Almeida in those moments of need, when gaps need to be closed or when you are having a bad moment and you need a wheel to follow.

 

[groogster]

I think he might not have been aware of the lack of domestiques, since he wanted GT leadership, which in most cases includes mountain domestiques.

I wonder if Matxin might sugar coat things.

Don’t really know but I don’t think that him and his manager are mentality handicapped so I’m sure he was fully aware of the conditions that UAE was giving him!
At the beginning of 2022 (March/April) Almeida gave an interview where he spoke about his objectives for 2022 and the plan in the long run inside UAE. He said that the objective for the Giro was top3 (when he DNS at stage 18 he was 4th just 49 seconds behind Landa at 3rd and with an itt left at stage 21).
When asked if he could aim higher and go for the win he said.. “not this year, I don’t have what it takes yet but next year probably I can”
Looking now at those statements from him I think that we are in front of a guy with good self awareness about his capabilities so i will give him the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that he can win a GT like the Giro if not competing against Poga, Vinge, Roglic and Evenepoel.

 

[groogster]

Holy Moses! Let's have a meet up in the clinic

I’m sure that we’ll meet all the other GC riders there .

 

[Escarabajo]

I think he will get leadership at the Giro again. he'll get his chance again.

 

[noob]

Don’t really know but I don’t think that him and his manager are mentality handicapped so I’m sure he was fully aware of the conditions that UAE was giving him!
At the beginning of 2022 (March/April) Almeida gave an interview where he spoke about his objectives for 2022 and the plan in the long run inside UAE. He said that the objective for the Giro was top3 (when he DNS at stage 18 he was 4th just 49 seconds behind Landa at 3rd and with an itt left at stage 21).
When asked if he could aim higher and go for the win he said.. “not this year, I don’t have what it takes yet but next year probably I can”
Looking now at those statements from him I think that we are in front of a guy with good self awareness about his capabilities so i will give him the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe that he can win a GT like the Giro if not competing against Poga, Vinge, Roglic and Evenepoel.

Actually LRCP Patrick said yesterday that he thinks Almeida can win the giro if he works on positioning etc.

I just don't think positioning is the easiest to fix in the team he's in

 

[noob]

So in the LRCP podcast they referred to an interview with one of the DS of UAE having said that they race for UCI points.

So eventually their tactics are explained; everyone in UAE will always get their chances in the same races

 

[groogster]

Some insights about what to expect from UAE and Almeida at 2023 "Giro d' Italia".

Portuguese cycling site "TopCycling" went to UAE Media Day and their Journalist, Gonçalo Moreira, stayed with them a few days to give an insight about what to expect from both UAE and Almeida. They interviewed, Almeida, Matxin and Íñigo San Millán (Ayuso, Pogacar and Almeida performance coach). That's what they had to say.

Almeida

As an objective again Top3 at "Giro" but much more confident with the change of gear from Campagnolo to Shimano, the Wheels to Enve and new Continental tyres. He stated that changing their GPS to Wahoo will be, in his case, a major improvement because last season he couldn´t see the road map during descents, making him worse at descending in some stages due to the lack of confidence.
He also said that last season he didn't ride a lot on his TT bike which will not be the case this season.
As for the team for the Giro he said that this season he will have the domestiques riding with him in preparation for the Italian GT. One of the most important ones will be Jay Vine that will race with Almeida in all the same races prior to the Giro. Also Covi and Ulissi will ride always with him.
It was also implied during the interview with Almeida that this Giro will be kind of "all or nothing" because from 2024 Almeida will shift to TDF.
Something strange about Il Giro goals for Almeida was that while Almeida said that the objective is to finish Top3, Matxin and Inigo believe in the victory so...

Matxin

Matxin said that they are aware of the cristics made by the media about UAE tactics in the last Giro, having stated that it seemed that was every man for himself and that Almeida should have more help in the mountains. He confirmed that there isn't any doubt in the team that Almeida will be the leader for the Giro and that all the riders will have to work for him.
He guaranteed a balanced team in terms of climbers and rolleurs to help Almeida achieving his objective.
He said that the race strategy for the UAE team at the italian race will be more in line with what happened at last year "La Vuelta" but also said that they will have individual goals for all the riders with the freedom to go on breaks at any given stage so we can expect more of the same from UAE

As for Almeida racing calendar he will ride at:

• "challenge mallorca" where it's expected to ride only 3 of the 5 days
• Algarve
• Tirreno
• Catalunya
• Sierra Nevada Training Camp
• Giro

Íñigo San Millán

He said that Almeida is very capable of doing well both at iTT and climbing, not losing much time to a bigger rider like Ganna and still being able to climb with the best riders at the mountains and he is expecting better iTT from Almeida than last season.

We will have a much more accurate idea about Almeida´s chances for the Giro during the Sierra Nevada training camp just before the start of the Italian GT because Inigo is expecting significant better lactate threshold results from Almeida than last year.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

We will have a much more accurate idea about Almeida´s chances for the Giro during the Sierra Nevada training camp just before the start of the Italian GT because Inigo is expecting significant better lactate threshold results from Almeida than last year.

Can't remember what happened last year why he should have a much better test this year. Covid was only during the Giro, no?

 

[Squire]

With all the Rem/Rog talk, he will go very much under the radar, especially as his race schedule (as outlined, at least) won't give away much about his form in the lead-up to the Giro. He can be dangerous.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

With all the Rem/Rog talk, he will go very much under the radar, especially as his race schedule (as outlined, at least) won't give away much about his form in the lead-up to the Giro. He can be dangerous.

Quickstep know his numbers, Evenepoel knows what he's capable of. I'm not sure he's going to be able to take them by surprise. Maybe Jumbo will underestimate him, i don't know, but i doubt it. I think if he wants to upset them, he'll need to take a gamble. Or if he thinks he is strong enough to take them head-on, they'll know soon enough what they're dealing with. Surely he won't be the biggest favorite, but i doubt they will just let him go in a big break and let him take 5 free minutes like that.

I still have a soft spot for Almeida, and i'm quite eager to see how far he can go. But i think he'll be very much on the rader, together with guys like Vlasov and Thomas. Also curious to see if they are bringing Vine as a Kuss-like domestique for Almeida, or if he has a free role to either chase stages or go for his own GC.

 

[groogster]

Can't remember what happened last year why he should have a much better test this year. Covid was only during the Giro, no?

Yes he only had covid during the Giro but he had to rest more than expected after which made him being behind schedule building up form again for La Vuelta. Today Topcycling posted the 2nd part of their cover up of Almeida that focused on what Inigo San Millan and Matxin expect from him for this season. I will post the translation of what they said. But as a teaser i can say that Almeida is Íñigo San Millán´s special project.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yes he only had covid during the Giro but he had to rest more than expected after which made him being behind schedule building up form again for La Vuelta. Today Topcycling posted the 2nd part of their cover up of Almeida that focused on what Inigo San Millan and Matxin expect from him for this season. I will post the translation of what they said. But as a teaser i can say that Almeida is Íñigo San Millán´s special project.

But then why would they assume his pre-Giro tests would be so much better than last year unless we are faring into clinic territory?

 

[groogster]

So as promised i made a translation of the 2nd part of the cover up story made by Topcycling about Almeida in the words of Matxin and Íñigo San Millán

Matxin

2022 was a transition year for Almeida because he changed everything that he was used to, from the gear to the training methodology and that his performance was what they expected from him.
Matxin said that Almeida way of riding is to manage his watts in the earlier stages of the climbs and that will continue. Last season the main goal was to make Almeida capable of sustaining his efforts in longer climbs so he could be with the best until the end because San Millan decided that he had to improve in that particular aspect.
It was achieved but that kind of training program made him lose his explosiveness, something that he will focus on improving this season to be a more balanced rider. One other thing that they are focusing with Almeida is the positioning because he is spending unnecessary watts closing the gaps. It´s likely that once again this season on the final KMs of the climbs he won't have a domestique to close the gaps for him.
Matxin also stated that in terms of mental skillset Almeida is very strong and ambitious and has what it takes to be a leader.
At the end he said that Almeida is going to the Giro with the goal of winning it. At the end if he manages to be in the podium depending on the circumstances it could be a good result, but he will go for the win.


San Millan

He compared Pogacar with Almeida saying that they are mentally similar but physiologically a rider like Pogacar appears only once every 20 or 30 years. Having that said San Millan stated that Almeida is his special project because with all the data that he has about Almeida he is sure that he has room to improve and that he will be steadily growing stronger in the next seasons.
He also confirm that in the stage 18 of the Giro he was already with symptoms related to covid, that his data was showing less watts and that he was already incubating Covid in the last stages before stage 18. He said that without covid there wasn´t any doubt in his mind that at a worst case scenario Almeida would finish top3 at the Italian GT.

According San Millan Almeida has an amazing understanding of all the science behind the training involved in his development and that concepts like lactate, fat metabolism, carbohydrates and physiology are well understould by him.

As for Almeida chances of winning a GT San Millan said that he needs to climb at around 6,2w/Kg for being in contention for the win. Atm he is capable of doing 6,0wkg in sustained long climbing efforts and that he is confident that Almeida will be around those 6,2w/kg at peak form this season.

 

[groogster]

But then why would they assume his pre-Giro tests would be so much better than last year unless we are faring into clinic territory?

Probably only based on data collection from previous training camps at high altitude, not sure. It seems that San Millan has a lot of confidence in Almeida development, if it relates entirely on science or faith i don't know! If they are thinking in some kind of "illegal medical boost" i also can´t tell !

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Probably only based on data collection from previous training camps at high altitude, not sure. It seems that San Millan has a lot of confidence in Almeida development, if it relates entirely on science or faith i don't know! If they are thinking in some kind of "illegal medical boost" i also can´t tell !

From that article, you would assume they believe he will still progress that much, not that he underperformed due to whatever reason last year. I'm curious to see how things will turn out for him. His climbing style (going his own pace early, allowing others to ride away, just to close the gap along the way by managing his efforts, kind of reminds me of a young Gesink.

 

[groogster]

From that article, you would assume they believe he will still progress that much, not that he underperformed due to whatever reason last year. I'm curious to see how things will turn out for him. His climbing style (going his own pace early, allowing others to ride away, just to close the gap along the way by managing his efforts, kind of reminds me of a young Gesink.

I'm a bit skeptical as far as Almeida winning chances for this Giro, he will face top tier 1 GC guys like Evenepoel and Roglic and very competitive GC guys like Vlasov and Thomas which seem at least on par with Almeida, so i guess unless we see a big improvement from Almeida he will contest that final podium spot with Vlasov and Thomas and the win will be decided between Evenepoel and Roglic.
The way that Almeida climbs it's kind of dumb if you ask me, if he saves his energy for the last KMs of the climbs but let a gap between him and the the front riders he will spend that energy for closing the gaps so at the end it doesn't make much sense...