João Almeida - Bota Lume

[CyclistAbi]

Considering all the factors involved i would say that Almeida is aiming at podium position. In regards to Giro. Top 7 is in my opinion not enough.

 

[red_flanders]

He is going to the Giro right? If Roglic and Remco will play games with each other, I could see Almeida "stealing" the whole thing as he won't lose that much time in TTs, so he should stay close in GC. Similar to Nibali/Roglic games in 2019 Giro and in the end Carapaz won.

It's an interesting thought and I think you're right that he won't ever bleed THAT much time, but how is he going to TAKE time? He's quite easy to mark, he's just not explosive enough to be a real threat. Sure, if Roglič and Evenepoel both crack he could be right there, but without them cracking, I struggle to see any terrain on which he doesn't lose time.

 

[noob]

It's an interesting thought and I think you're right that he won't ever bleed THAT much time, but how is he going to TAKE time? He's quite easy to mark, he's just not explosive enough to be a real threat. Sure, if Roglič and Evenepoel both crack he could be right there, but without them cracking, I struggle to see any terrain on which he doesn't lose time.

I tend to agree with this. But the arms race is on. So we'll see. Catalunya will be interesting.

I have to say though that whoever wins this giro is gonna be a ton better than most GT winners I have seen (since I started watching them 2020 lol) considering how hard this giro route is!

 

[noob]

Almeida, Bennett, Fisher Black, Majka, Ivo Oliveira, Yates

For Catalunya. What a team

 

[noob]

So is UAE gonna let the road decide who's leader again? Soler will be Soler, obviously and go for stages, but what's the role of Yates and Majka?

 

[Colonel]

So is UAE gonna let the road decide who's leader again? Soler will be Soler, obviously and go for stages, but what's the role of Yates and Majka?

Yates - to ride support for Almeida and Majka
Majka - to ride support for Yates and Almeida
Almeida - to ride support for Yates and Majka

 

[Andy schleck]

If you think almeida is good, wait 2/3 years to see antonio morgado.

 

[noob]

Yates - to ride support for Almeida and Majka
Majka - to ride support for Yates and Almeida
Almeida - to ride support for Yates and Majka

Honestly that's sort of still better than them all riding against each other.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If you think almeida is good, wait 2/3 years to see antonio morgado.

Let's see what type of rider he turns into first. I'm not yet convinced he will turn into a GC/GT rider. He does seem like a force of nature.

 

[groogster]

If you think almeida is good, wait 2/3 years to see antonio morgado.

I think that we will see him sooner at WT level.

 

[noob]

I'm gonna be very curious if we'll see watts or times for this climb for Almeida vs the others. He should've ridden it the fastest, no?

 

[Landeirovic]

If you think almeida is good, wait 2/3 years to see antonio morgado.

Morgado will sign in Uae.

 

[noob]

LR noticing Almeida was on the radio and then Yates dropped back so...

 

[noob]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1638276026898829312

 

[Cookster15]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1638276026898829312

Finished in the chasing bunch on La Molina today. Would be good to see him pressure the rampaging Remco in the Giro as we know JA has a strong TT.

 

[noob]

Finished in the chasing bunch on La Molina today. Would be good to see him pressure the rampaging Remco in the Giro as we know JA has a strong TT.

I think had they ridden for him yesterday he'd be on podium place already?

 

[tobydawq]

I think had they ridden for him yesterday he'd be on podium place already?

How?

 

[SafeBet]

I don't see any real improvement compared to last year. Can't handle any acceleration and then has to grind his way back to the front.

 

[groogster]

How?

Maybe not, but yesterday after all those watts spent and finishing just 11 seconds behind makes me confident that he would be with Roglic, Evenepoel and Ciccone sprinting for the stage win.

 

[groogster]

Finished in the chasing bunch on La Molina today. Would be good to see him pressure the rampaging Remco in the Giro as we know JA has a strong TT.

With 3 itt in the Giro he will lose close to 3 minutes to Evenepoel just on those stages.

 

[noob]

Last year he couldn't do those fast paced hilly up and down stop and start stages and came in 20 seconds later etc. So I'd say there's improvement. Also this competition is much harder than last year Catalunya. And the overall pace is higher. So he has improved. It's just that others improved as well. And without a bike change he'd have a stage win yesterday for sure.

Least it's mental and not physical ability that's lacking.

I never expected him to change into a different rider. How could that possibly happen?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

And without a bike change he'd have a stage win yesterday for sure.

No, he wouldn't, cause the stage would still have been decided in a sprint if he hadn't had to change his bike.

 

[Cookster15]

With 3 itt in the Giro he will lose close to 3 minutes to Evenepoel just on those stages.

Which is about 3 minutes less than everyone else will lose. Surely you would agree Almeida is a better TTer than the other podium contenders?

As for grinding his way back to the front, well yes diesels do that. Anyway I think today was promising it tells me Almeida is on track to be at least be as strong as last year before Covid got in the way. Whether that is good enough for a podium I have no idea.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't see any real improvement compared to last year. Can't handle any acceleration and then has to grind his way back to the front.

Needs more zone 2 work clearly

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Needs more zone 2 work clearly

Or the opposite? Zone 5 interval workouts and keeping zone 3/4 in between to simulate race conditions from time to time. I mean, they surely have a lot of zone 2 (as it should be) and Almeida is a diesel able to keep a strong pace, who doesn't seem to lack base in stage-races.