- Aug 9, 2021
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Yeah I really want to know. I guess Almeida will answer that in interviews.
- Mar 13, 2009
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- Jun 7, 2011
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If it wasn't for his timeloss supposedly due to a hungerknock in stage 4, a ''hilly'' stage, last year, he wouldn't have had to wait for Evenepoel in stage 11 and 14. That means for the most part of last year's Giro his climbing was more than fine and he just missed the podium.
- Sep 14, 2009
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May be it is also at least in part because UAE seem to do f*ck all to support Almeida's overall effort. For example, instead of sending folks like Formolo up the road for useless stage attempts, even if Formolo just helps close one gap for Almeida, by week 3 that is a lot of energy saved for Almeida, and possibly some time. UAE see to play an utterly stupid support strategy for their GC rider here. We won't know what difference it could have made, it is completely possible it would have saved Almeida energy stores and kept him from being dropped these two days.
Also, a bit ironic that they have completely sh*t on the road support strategy, but they have press officers hanging around their riders during interview time. Seem mighty image conscious!
- Feb 20, 2012
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Almeida has had like 25 all out climbs as a GC rider and on all but 2 of them he didn't look like a GT winning climber.
- Aug 9, 2021
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One of the other three has to crack badly for Almeida to be able to return to the podium though.
Exactly this! It gives me the chills!
- Jun 7, 2011
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- Aug 3, 2015
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Yeah well, if we play that game, Koos Moerenhout was the next Anquetil.
You are the one who does not anything - The only time S.Yates could be considered a domestique was the 2018 Giro when Chaves was the team leader, while Yates had permission to try for stages which changed when Chaves collapsed on stage 10 and Yates was on super form - All riders help their team-mates at different times.
That’s quite an assumption when he literally got dropped on every significant final mountain so far. Really hoping the podium will be Carapaz, Hindley and Landa, who are just the best riders in this race.
- Jun 7, 2011
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Well he is more consistent than he was last year, but now he is consistently not good enough. Last year he had days on which he was one of the stronger climbers, especially in the last week.
Best answer if he is or not a top GT contender is the union of efforts the top 3 made to distance him. Also they didn't even bother to attack each other for how many mountain stages. Everyone knows he is not a pure climber, and has problems doing accelerations, he is the kind of contender who needs support from team till the last 3-5km of the climb, to then go full gas till the end. Unfortunately he made a mistake going to UAE as their tactics suck and will never give him the necessary support to win GT. Only Poggie can win by his own.
- Sep 14, 2009
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If Landa collapses on the final TT and ends up off the podium, then he is in his rightful place off the podium.
- Aug 9, 2021
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For the sake of science I am watching post race interviews from other teams to see if they have their press officiers always present. It doesn't seem to be that way. So I assume that the difference is that that Haoyang Zhao really really likes to be on the screen himself.
He certainly manages to create a creepy atmosphere so if he's suppsed to help with the press he's actually doing a terribly bad job.
He certainly manages to create a creepy atmosphere so if he's suppsed to help with the press he's actually doing a terribly bad job.
- Sep 29, 2013
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Maybe he's affraid a portuguese fan appears out of nowhere. They've been attacking UAE's social media with a lot of passion 
- Aug 9, 2021
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He's with every single UAE rider intervie every time, Ayouso, Pog etc. It's not just Almeida. It's just unprofessional imo.Maybe he's affraid a portuguese fan appears out of nowhere. They've been attacking UAE's social media with a lot of passion
- Apr 30, 2011
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- Aug 9, 2021
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I actually agree with that this is the kind of rider he is. He'd do very well with an Ineos kind of train. He needs a lot of support. But I guess he wanted to be with his fellow Portuguese.
Not being on podium is bad result for Joao and I agree that he will be softly pushed for domestic role with time if he doesn't improve. With such long contract he will not even be able to change to a team that supports him better. He needs to show his A game Friday and Saturday.
- Aug 9, 2021
- 5,989
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- Aug 9, 2021
- 5,989
- 6,488
- 17,180
Uhm no, it's not a bad result considering the lack of ITT. That's been said all along that this giro doesn't suit him that well.
- Sep 14, 2009
- 6,302
- 3,562
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Before we say he needs a lot of support, let's just see how he does with some support. UAE do not present with a cohesive GC strategy - if they just backed off of useless stage hunting efforts to provide Almeida with some support, it would be interesting to see how he would do. I mean, it's not like UAE need to become Ineos or Bora, just stop shooting themselves in the foot.
Seriously, who is even in charge of the strategy on the road when the don't have TP in the race?
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