João Almeida - Bota Lume

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Matxin says no more guys in breaks
Lets see if that turns out to be true or not.
When I heard that yesterday i couldn't believe how publicly Matxin was admiting to have thrown away the first half of the Vuelta (GC wise).

However, having guys on breaks is a good thing IF they are not focused on the victory. Visma does this a lot.
This means no breaks for Ayuso, Soler, Vine.
Everyone else can go into breaks so they are able to still be at the top of the peloton at some point during the last climbs.
 
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It's already a "win" to be so close to Vingegaard. Despite the fact the Vuelta has historically in recent years featured smaller winning margins than the Tour, it's still remarkable for Almeida to come back from his TdF injuries and be so close to the man everyone pretty much expected to crush the race.
Almeida is where he's supposed to be, and it's Vingegaard underdelivering big time.
 
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Almeida is where he's supposed to be, and it's Vingegaard underdelivering big time.

I don't disagree.

I think Vingegaard's form since June has been horrible. He's not the rider he was 2 years ago. In fact he's not as strong as he was when he came back and did the TdF after his Itzulia crash last year.

No one is going to post bullish headlines about Vinge looking ahead to next year's TdF after winning the Vuelta like this. He's crawling over the line.
 
I don't disagree.

I think Vingegaard's form since June has been horrible. He's not the rider he was 2 years ago. In fact he's not as strong as he was when he came back and did the TdF after his Itzulia crash last year.

No one is going to post bullish headlines about Vinge looking ahead to next year's TdF after winning the Vuelta like this. He's crawling over the line.

He says that if he manages to win the Vuelta his goal will be to win the Giro next year and complete the triple.
 
I feel that we need to acknowledge Almeida was hammering it through and through the season and that UAE won half of the stages at this Vuelta. So the idea it's just about Jonas not being at his level. Nah. Plus Pogi has beaten Jonas at the Tour rather comfortably.

So we need to acknowledge that UAE as a whole leveled up, meanwhile others didn't, at least not to such extent.
 
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To be fair, we also have to count the stage Pidcock "won" and wasn't count. That day, they could have gotten more time off Almeida in the original finish. Besides, the 6-second bonus they didn't give Vingegaard.

The really serious problem is what happened the day Vingegaard won the stage and his teammates left him alone to save energy because they had to win stages.
 
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I feel that we need to acknowledge Almeida was hammering it through and through the season and that UAE won half of the stages at this Vuelta. So the idea it's just about Jonas not being at his level. Nah. Plus Pogi has beaten Jonas at the Tour rather comfortably.

So we need to acknowledge that UAE as a whole leveled up, meanwhile others didn't, at least not to such extent.
UAE been really good at giving most of their riders opportunities in different races.

And keeping them fresh.

That they have a very talented squad goes without saying.
 
UAE been really good at giving most of their riders opportunities in different races.

And keeping them fresh.

That they have a very talented squad goes without saying.

One could say the same for Visma, but over there the level remained rather the same. RBH is on a rise, still nowhere near the level of UAE ATM. Just getting better then most of the teams not being Visma or UAE.
 
One could say the same for Visma, but over there the level remained rather the same. RBH is on a rise, still nowhere near the level of UAE ATM. Just getting better then most of the teams not being Visma or UAE.
Visma dont give most of their riders opportunities and most of their best riders are also significantly older than the likes of Pog, Almeida, Del Toro and Ayuso.

Age and riders like Laporte, Van Aert, Benoot, Kelderman, Kuss, Van Baarle... not being at their best anymore makes a difference.
 
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My commentator the other day said "as Joao Almeida says; "it is what it is"".
Now the poodle philosopher gave us a new quote.

"Life is based on ifs"

(also "We as cyclists we adapt quite well to any scenario")


Btw; why on earth did he put his helmet back on in the middle of an interview? Sponsors? I imagine it's nicer without the helmet on in the heat.
 
I prefer to think this is the strongest Almeida we have seen rather than Vingegaard is that weak. For another benchmark this was the best we have seen Hindley since he won the Giro but Almeida has been stronger.

Almeida’s ride on Angliru spoke volumes. The pecking order on that mountain was a good guide who was strongest - and Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t come around him. Kudos.
 
I prefer to think this is the strongest Almeida we have seen rather than Vingegaard is that weak. For another benchmark this was the best we have seen Hindley since he won the Giro but Almeida has been stronger.

Almeida’s ride on Angliru spoke volumes. The pecking order on that mountain was a good guide who was strongest - and Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t come around him. Kudos.
If tomorrow Almeida finds his Angliru legs he has a chance of winning GC
 

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