João Almeida - Bota Lume

Page 119 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I don't see much of a difference from last year's Tour de Suisse.
If it weren't for the first stage, Almeida would be winning by the same margin as last year. The difference is that last year he didn't have to attack as much and still managed to gain a significant advantage over Skjelmose, who is a better climber than Alaphilippe and Onley.

 
He is set to become the first rider since Wiggins in 2012 (and second since Kelly in 1986) to win three of the seven major one week races in the same season.

The wild thing is that he at some point was also in pole position to win Paris-Nice. Four of those in a season would have been completely insane.

Wow, even Roglic didn't achieve it. Impressive (if he completes it tomorrow).
UAE will have a hard time choosing the TdF leader! Joao should be favoured IMHO.
 
For the people that don't see Bota Lume, you are blind.
At this point in the season, his level is similar. It seems more significant to me to gain 3 minutes on Skjelmose than on Alaphilippe.
Remco's level this year at Dauphiné was similar.
What changed is that Remco improved a lot from the Dauphiné to the Tour. If this happens again, Almeida will be fourth again.

It seems crazy to me to think that Almeida can fight for second place, as some people are saying on social media.

I'm comparing the performance in TDS. And the performance in TDS isn't much better than last year. Last year, the level of climbers in the top 10 was much higher. Which is enough to finish fourth in TDF like last year. It all depends on Remco performing at a similar level. Remco's performance in the 2024 Tour was better than this.