João Almeida - The portuguese wolf

[rei_da_montanha]

I've searched but I didn't find any thread for the rider.

João Pedro Gonçalves Almeida
Born: 5 August 1998
Hometown: Caldas da Rainha

Professional teams
2013	Ecosprint–BTT Caldas
2014	CC José Maria Nicolau
2015	Sicasal–Liberty Seguros–Bombarralense
2016	CC Bairrada
2017	Unieuro Trevigiani–Hemus
2018–2019	Hagens Berman Axeon
2020–	Deceuninck–Quick-Step

Results:

https://firstcycling.com/rider.php?r=50303

João Almeida

João Almeida (born 1998-08-05) is a professional road racing cyclist from Portugal, currently riding for Deceuninck - Quick Step. His best results are 4th place in GC Giro d'Italia, 6th place in GC Giro d'Italia and 3rd place in GC UAE Tour.

www.procyclingstats.com

João Almeida

João Pedro Gonçalves Almeida (born 5 August 1998) is a Portuguese road racing cyclist who currently rides for Deceuninck - Quick-Step (WorldTeam).

www.worldcyclingstats.com

CQ Ranking - ALMEIDA Joao Pedro Gonçalves

CQ Ranking is the world's leading cycling ranking and extensive results database. Also known as Cycling Quotient.

cqranking.com

Social media:

João Almeida - Atleta

João Almeida - Atleta. 32,432 likes · 1,286 talking about this. BiCampeão Nacional de Estrada e Contra Relógio Vencedor Volta a Portugal de Juniores Vencedor Taça de Portugal de Juniores

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https://twitter.com/JooAlmeida98

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[gregrowlerson]

Terrific Title!

 

[Akuryo]

He was solid throughout the year, which is not always the case with neo pros. But he was obviously the one who gained the most from Remcos crash. He was supposed to be his main helper in the mountains (which he did in a fantastic manner multiple times in 2020) but now he finds himself in the race lead. Really happy for the guy, since he comes across as a good kid and I am excited to see how far he can go.

 

[Anderis]

It will be ironic if Deceuninck become the best GC team in a couple of years. With Evenepoel and Almeida onboard it's not impossible.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Well it's not surprising he did well yesterday. Considering his hometown, he must be having a right laugh in bad weather

It wil be interesting to see where his limit is. You would expect him to struggle a bit in the high mountains and/or fade over three weeks, but you never know these days.

 

[Earns1985]

Well it's not surprising he did well yesterday. Considering his hometown, he must be having a right laugh in bad weather

It wil be interesting to see where his limit is. You would expect him to struggle a bit in the high mountains and/or fade over three weeks, but you never know these days.

Yep, he already struggled a bit at the Etna, but in the end he limited his losses there.
Don´t see him as favourite, but for now he is the guy in pink and the other riders have to gain time on him to beat him. He also seems to have the best time trial ability of the GC guys in this race.

 

[BlueRoads]

I think it would be very negligent to disregard him as a contender for the win. We don't really know by now what he can do, so Nibali and Fuglsang should be prepared that he is able to limit his losses on the climbs and gain time during the TTs. He does have at least one minute on them, so they need to make that up first. I would not rely on him cracking, not with what we have seen with young riders over the past two years.

 

[JosefK]

Hmmm. Early 20s, very talented, can time trial and climb. Leading Giro 2020 after 5 stages.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yep, he already struggled a bit at the Etna, but in the end he limited his losses there.
Don´t see him as favourite, but for now he is the guy in pink and the other riders have to gain time on him to beat him. He also seems to have the best time trial ability of the GC guys in this race.

We'll see on the second TT how good he really is compared to the others. If he's stil in contention they should at least have similar conditions in oppose to the first one. It isn't 50K+, but it should suit Nibali, Fuglsang and Kruijswijk a bit better.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He's a fighter. In Algarve he got dropped, fought back, went to the front and started pulling again. Finished top 10. In Burgos he also got dropped, early, rode past Bennett, Yates, Chavez, Carapaz... To finish on the podium. In Tour de L'ain he got dropped on the climb, with still a long way to go on the plateau, only finished a few seconds behind the front group after having done most of the chasing solo.

It's certainly possible to drop him, but if they want to get rid of him, it will prove to be a process, not an occurrance. He seems very tenacious.

 

[cobblesandstones]

It's funny... now that I read this. It seems to be a pattern. In the Tour of Utah last year he was dropped right at the beginning of the biggest climb of the race (can't remember name) and I thought ok he's gone. Then I couldn't believe he still finished top ten. I also just saw that during all stage races he did he just seems to become stronger and not weaker. Of course Giro is something completely different - but can't wait to watch how he does.

He's a fighter. In Algarve he got dropped, fought back, went to the front and started pulling again. Finished top 10. In Burgos he also got dropped, early, rode past Bennett, Yates, Chavez, Carapaz... To finish on the podium. In Tour de L'ain he got dropped on the climb, with still a long way to go on the plateau, only finished a few seconds behind the front group after having done most of the chasing solo.

It's certainly possible to drop him, but if they want to get rid of him, it will prove to be a process, not an occurrance. He seems very tenacious.

 

[jmdirt]

Cobble, when he got the pink shirt, my first thought was "is this the guy from TdUT?"

Good luck young man!

 

[Red Rick]

I think it would be very negligent to disregard him as a contender for the win. We don't really know by now what he can do, so Nibali and Fuglsang should be prepared that he is able to limit his losses on the climbs and gain time during the TTs. He does have at least one minute on them, so they need to make that up first. I would not rely on him cracking, not with what we have seen with young riders over the past two years.

Thing is he was solid in the races before the Giro, not a GT winner level world beater. Doesn't mean they should just go to the pub when Almeida is up the road and give him 5 minutes, but I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption he'll just get dropped in the higher mountains.

 

[cobblesandstones]

Thing is he was solid in the races before the Giro, not a GT winner level world beater.

Like Jan Ullrich in 1996 before the Tour?

 

[Red Rick]

Like Jan Ullrich in 1996 before the Tour?

Yes cycling is full of outliers, but don't let all the other stories tell you how unlikely they are. We're also completely forgetting the circumstances in which Almeida was the best ITTer of the bunch.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Like Jan Ullrich in 1996 before the Tour?

I was also impressed by him during ToU, but I don't think anyone has ever placed him in the Ullrich category talent wise.

 

[Parrulo]

I think he has what it takes to finish in the top 10 and I already thought that before the Giro started. However, even the white jersey will be a tall order considering the way Harm Vanhoucke is riding.

A top 10 place (7th to 10th) would already be brilliant for his first grand tour.

 

[BlueRoads]

Thing is he was solid in the races before the Giro, not a GT winner level world beater. Doesn't mean they should just go to the pub when Almeida is up the road and give him 5 minutes, but I don't think it's an unreasonable assumption he'll just get dropped in the higher mountains.

3rd in Burgos, ahead of Yates and Carapaz. 7th at l'Ain, ahead of Porte, Dumoulin, Martin. Ahead of Nibali at Algarve. Working as a helper for Evenepoel.
No, he has never won a Grand Tour. The first time is always the first time.
I'm not saying I am expecting him to win it. (And for the sake of my cq-team I am hoping he won't.) But not to think of him as a possibility wouldn't be clever. As he's so young recovery might be on his side.

 

[Moviestar]

See you with Movistar in 2022! (post Valverde-era).

 

[lenric]

See you with Movistar in 2022! (post Valverde-era).

Please no

 

[cobblesandstones]

Yes cycling is full of outliers, but don't let all the other stories tell you how unlikely they are. We're also completely forgetting the circumstances in which Almeida was the best ITTer of the bunch.

I doubt that the circumstances accounted for all the seconds he got in the ITT. Bjerg hat same conditions and he's a good ITT rider. Nonetheless I'm not saying he'll win the giro, but the kid keeps on surprising and getting better so I just wouldn't count him out. Would I have thought he'd be 3rd Burgos? No. Did I think he'd nearly win Emilia? No. Do why not surprise us one more time and hang on to Pink longer than expected?

 

[Ranagazoo]

He feels like a Kruijswijk or Dumoulin kind of climber - he paces himself rather than trying to stick with the group until he cracks. I like riders like that, even when they're dropped they still have a chance.

I still think this year he'll struggle with the steeper climbs and I'll be very surprised if he's still in contention week 3. But definitely has a bright future ahead.

 

[Bardamu]

Please no

Rather there than that he stays at DQS.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Rather there than that he stays at DQS.

Why?

 

[Bardamu]

Why?

Don't want to see him becoming a domestique if he's able to be a leader himself.