João Almeida - Bota Lume

[Pozzovivo]

They could have taken him to Tirreno and Del Toro to Paris-Nice.

Sure. Would make sense but for IDT participation in Strade (which they for some reason think is a priority).

 

[Squire]

Illness-prone pre-2025 Almeida is back.

 

[noob]

From his Facebook 3 hours ago:

"Unfortunately I won’t do Paris Nice this year.
A few days after Algarve I got sick with flu symptoms and not being able to complete a training session until 4 days to the start of the race I don’t feel good and fit to race, especially such a hard race as Paris Nice. Today, I am back feeling healthy and my natural motivation to train and push myself is back but my fitness just isn’t there. I will focus now to be ready for our next goals which will be Cataluña and Giro! It’s never enough to thank the team @uae_team_emirates for their support, their trust and believing in me. Sometimes when we crash we break bones, we get wounds and we see the pain and the damage our body takes. When we get sick, damage is made but is just less visible. Don’t crash and don’t get sick. Take care of yourself 🫶

 

[jotafap]

As long as he is in full form at the Giro, I'm okay with it. But that will be the ultimate test for him. With Del Toro coming up fast, he is surely under pressure about being the second GT guy for UAE, behind Tadej. Sadly, he has to face Jonas again, so the odds are not good.

 

[Didinho]

I was eager to see him battle Vingo again. He was my favorite for Paris-Nice. Better get fully healthy and skip than make it worse. I’m hoping he can take his first GT win this Giro.

 

[Lequack]

So is he still sick?

 

[Salvarani]

So is he still sick?

Havent heard so, but his form isnt there. Likely because he was sick.

Did he also have a crash here or something?

If not, it is just likely not having the form because sickness and losing the momentum from early races.

Not ideal, but still well over a month until the Giro starts so he still has time to improve if not suffering any setback.

 

[vappa]

Havent heard so, but his form isnt there. Likely because he was sick.

Did he also have a crash here or something?

If not, it is just likely not having the form because sickness and losing the momentum from early races.

Not ideal, but still well over a month until the Giro starts so he still has time to improve if not suffering any setback.

Yes, on Friday on the last descent, followed by a valley and a final climb Coll de Pal

 

[iBanesto]

Almeida on track for his worst major stage race finish outside of the Grand Tours.

His worst finish was 11th!

 

[fenns]

He's not going to be a factor at the Giro would not surprise me if he skips it.

 

[vappa]

He's not going to be a factor at the Giro would not surprise me if he skips it.

It seems like so but what will UAE do then? I don't know the shape of Yates or Vine who crashed again for example. Otherwise it's stages and no GC it seems unless Almeida improves a lot

 

[meat puppet]

He will be fine. UAE know what they are doing.

 

[vappa]

He will be fine. UAE know what they are doing.

Do they? That's very unusual because they never have any riders who are in terrible shape and then perform on their expected level in a GT

 

[Salvarani]

Do they? That's very unusual because they never have any riders who are in terrible shape and then perform on their expected level in a GT

Isnt this an overreaction as of now? He has been sick before the race and crashed in it.

He was good in both the races prior to this one.

We will just have to wait and see. He has over a month to get back into form before the Giro.

He had a great year last season, if he doesnt have a great season for whatever reasons this one... sometimes that just happens.

 

[Pantani_lives]

He's not looking good in the preparation races for the Giro, but last year I thought the same about Simon Yates.

 

[fenns]

commentator said he spoke to Joao this morning - he said he had flu before this race. He's been having a bad time of it because he was also ill before Paris Nice.

 

[vappa]

commentator said he spoke to Joao this morning - he said he had flu before this race. He's been having a bad time of it because he was also ill before Paris Nice.

With how often he gets sick, it will be a miracle if he doesn't get sick in the Giro, especially because the weather there is quite often really bad

 

[Jan the Man]

He's not going to be a factor at the Giro would not surprise me if he skips it.

I would not write him off yet. If it’s genuinely a combination of sickness affecting prep and the crash I certainly would not rule out a podium tilt at the Giro.

Winning it would in any event be far fetched even for a top Almeida with Vigno in this form.

 

[groogster]

He doesn't even know what's wrong with him! He said in the pre stage 7 interview that he was feeling bad since stage 1 and that he will do blood analysis with the medical team to find out what's the problem. Starting to see that he may have some serious condition, It wasn't normal to be dropped like that, in normal conditions he would be at least with Lipowitz and Lenny in the last 2 stages.

View: https://youtu.be/qY8Mv6axjhM?si=wLk24IKYn_h7pPkn

 

[groogster]

João Almeida UAE Training camp in Calpe December2024 to December 2025 comparison

Performance (VAM/Watts)

	2025	2026	Notes
VAM (Média)	~1.400 - 1.480 m/h	1.450 - 1.550 m/h	Approximately a 5% increase in climbing capacity during training.
FTP Estimado	~380W - 385W	~393W	absolute power gain
Rácio Peso/Potência	~6.3 - 6.4 W/kg	~6.5 - 6.6 W/kg	Improved efficiency

 

[Red Rick]

He doesn't even know what's wrong with him! He said in the pre stage 7 interview that he was feeling bad since stage 1 and that he will do blood analysis with the medical team to find out what's the problem. Starting to see that he may have some serious condition, It wasn't normal to be dropped like that, in normal conditions he would be at least with Lipowitz and Lenny in the last 2 stages.

View: https://youtu.be/qY8Mv6axjhM?si=wLk24IKYn_h7pPkn

Finishing Catalunya is so pointless then.

 

[groogster]

Finishing Catalunya is so pointless then.

Agree, he should DNS after stage 5