João Almeida - Bota Lume

[groogster]

A lot better than I expected today.
Cheering for him is not an easy task though. You always fear this is gonna be the time he doesn't come back.

He will be better after the Sierra Nevada training camp. If not, you can point me out in this thread.

 

[groogster]

"No improvement", they say

He surely is better, maybe lost some iTT but gained in the mountains. He will be better after Sierra Nevada, you can bet on it. It will be enough for Remco and Roglic? Surely not, but enough for a 3rd place imo.

 

[Didinho]

João will win the Giro.

 

[noob]

Honestly I would be devastated if he turned into a different rider. This heartbreak yoyo craziness is so addictive!

 

[groogster]

Honestly I would be devastated if he turned into a different rider. This heartbreak yoyo craziness is so addictive!

It's enough for being a 2nd class tier GC rider. If he want's to have a chance against the lights of Evenepoel/Roglic he has to improve in that change of pace, i mean if he can which i doubt!

 

[noob]

It's enough for being a 2nd class tier GC rider. If he want's to have a chance against the lights of Evenepoel/Roglic he has to improve in that change of pace, i mean if he can which i doubt!

Yeah I agree definitely. But then I don't have those kind of expactations either anymore. I tend to be fan of those struggling. If he gets just one stage win in a GT in this style I'd be happy enough, because it's so insane

 

[ALC]

Right now, and based on what we have seen during this past month, is perfectly clear that Almeida is the top favorite for 3rd place on the Giro.
Besides Remco and Roglic, which are clearly on another level, and unless things change dramatically, I do not see anyone on the Giro’s starting list that will be able to beat him.
Obviously is still over a month away but, as things stand, trust that the odds of him achieving a podium place are quite high…

 

[DoYouEvenRideBruh]

Almeida is such a gem. A unique rider characterized by his tenacity in a time when everybody seems to just float effortlessly up the climbs.

I wouldn't want him to turn into a wattmachine even it means improving his chances of winning a GT.

 

[Cookster15]

Well surely he is a strong chance for 3rd in the Giro? It does look like his climbing has improved but at the expense of his TT. But you never know, some riders don't optimize their form until the big show starts either.

Almeida's riding style reminds me a lot of Cadel Evans. For example, the year Cadel won the TdF he wasn't so good in the TT of the Dauphine -lost 1:20 to Tony Martin. In the TdF on the same course Cadel only dropped 7 seconds to Martin who won stage 20. Like Cadel, Almeida is a diesel in the mountains. Pure climbers might look nice and dance on the pedals but they can also waste more energy with constant accelerations. A lot of pure climbers were dusted by Almeida today.

Doubtful he can worry Roglic or Remco but 3rd place looks a realistic possibility and would be vindication for his Covid withdrawal last year.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Much better individual and team performance on stage 5.

 

[groogster]

Much better individual and team performance on stage 5.

Kind off, I think that the moment Almeida closed the gap for Evenepoel, Roglic and Soler maybe Soler instead of pacing so they can put seconds on Ciccone and Landa should try to attack, maybe Roglic and Evenepoel would not respond and Almeida could stay in the wheels of those 2.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@groogster

Nah. Lets keep it real. Both Yates and Soler worked for Almeida. To get him on the podium. Almeida cracking Roglič and Evenepoel today and going for the win. In my opinion that was never a realistic option. Not today.

 

[groogster]

@groogster

Nah. Lets keep it real. Both Yates and Soler worked for Almeida. To get him on the podium. Almeida cracking Roglič and Evenepoel today and going for the win. In my opinion that was never a realistic option. Not today.

Did you read my post ? I never said he has the level to beat Roglic and Evenepoel but if he keeps this kind of performance (yesterday’s climbing was on the same level as Piancavallo) he will be in the top 3 next Giro. Btw Evenepoel and Roglic yesterday probably did their best career power performances in those type of climbing efforts.

 

[Colonel]

Does San Millan (favourite mythical z2 cult leader and gianetti friend) only work with Pogacar and Ajuso from UAE, or I am making that up?

Majka
Ullisi

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Majka
Ullisi

Thanks Tadej

 

[Andy schleck]

Well surely he is a strong chance for 3rd in the Giro? It does look like his climbing has improved but at the expense of his TT. But you never know, some riders don't optimize their form until the big show starts either.

Almeida's riding style reminds me a lot of Cadel Evans. For example, the year Cadel won the TdF he wasn't so good in the TT of the Dauphine -lost 1:20 to Tony Martin. In the TdF on the same course Cadel only dropped 7 seconds to Martin who won stage 20. Like Cadel, Almeida is a diesel in the mountains. Pure climbers might look nice and dance on the pedals but they can also waste more energy with constant accelerations. A lot of pure climbers were dusted by Almeida today.

Doubtful he can worry Roglic or Remco but 3rd place looks a realistic possibility and would be vindication for his Covid withdrawal last year.

I disagree. On last week of giro 20221 his TT was better and he was climbing better than now. I remember that he was the most stronger on that week, and he dropped bernal some times.
He even break the record of sega di ala.

Giro 2020 he also did some great performances like in piancavallo.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@groogster

Your reply started with "kind off". When you start to reply like that it sort of implies that "much more" could be done.

 

[groogster]

@groogster

Your reply started with "kind off". When you start to reply like that it sort of implies that "much more" could be done.

true, I used the “kind off” at the start of my reply, meaning that yes, I agree partially with you. To a limited extent yes, both individually and team performance UAE was better but still I saw room to improvement in the team tactics yesterday. If Soler went all in after Almeida closed the gap, Evenepoel and Roglic had to make a decision, let him (Soler) go or spend watts to catch him, in the meantime Almeida could be wheelsucking both. It wouldn’t mean that Almeida had the power to be with them until the last meters, but will create a situation where Evenepoel and Roglic had to make a decision concerning Soler, who was not so far behind in GC. Just my thoughts about yesterday’s UAE move of pacing for the podium.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@groogster

Then again individually and as a team they did kinda worse. Prior to stage 5. Tactically they improved a lot for stage 5. And in my opinion Soler did just that. It ended up not being enough to achieve more against the duo. All in all Soler did sacrifice himself for Almeida to have a (better) chance.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

After Friday's performance it's clear that UAE will have two co-leaders at the Tour plus one super domestique (Pogi).

 

[noob]

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The drama continues...

"Volta a Catalunya, one of the hardest race weeks ever 3rd GC and Team GC WIN!
I wanna thanks the whole team for everything they have done for me! We weren’t perfect but we learn from mistakes and we can be proud of the week we have done! I guess the next one is Giro D’Italia! Bota Lume "

"We weren't perfect but we learn from mistakes"

 

[Offline]

Morgado will sign in Uae.

Link?

He trained with Quick Step in the winter.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Link?

He trained with Quick Step in the winter.

Uijtdebroeks also trained with QuickStep two years ago, and still he signed for Bora. Doesn't mean much.

 

[Offline]

Uijtdebroeks also trained with QuickStep two years ago, and still he signed for Bora. Doesn't mean much.

That's true. But would still like to see where he got the rumor from. Morgado is the man to sign this year in the U23 rank.

 

[Landeirovic]

Link?

He trained with Quick Step in the winter.

the deal would already be done. it just needs to be made official just like Hagen Berman's Rafferty.