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João Almeida - Bota Lume

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I don't understand the problem correctly? in Uae Tour he was co-leader with Pogacar. in Catalonia, Paris Nice, Giro and Burgos he was the Leader. next year he will get extra support in the Giro with Mcnulty, Novak and Grosschartner. Fisher Black will also make his Grand Tour debut. this could also be the Vuelta. Almeida won at QS hill stages. now at Uae it were 2 mountain stages of 2000m+. without bad luck in the Giro 4th and a view of the podium. and now in the Vuelta without super form top 7. it could be worse, right?
 
I don't understand the problem correctly? in Uae Tour he was co-leader with Pogacar. in Catalonia, Paris Nice, Giro and Burgos he was the Leader. next year he will get extra support in the Giro with Mcnulty, Novak and Grosschartner. Fisher Black will also make his Grand Tour debut. this could also be the Vuelta. Almeida won at QS hill stages. now at Uae it were 2 mountain stages of 2000m+. without bad luck in the Giro 4th and a view of the podium. and now in the Vuelta without super form top 7. it could be worse, right?
I agree with the overall assessment of this year.

But how would you already know McNulty, Novak and Gross are going to the giro and that they will be domestiques for him? Why switch out McNulty from TdF to giro?
 
I don't understand the problem correctly? in Uae Tour he was co-leader with Pogacar. in Catalonia, Paris Nice, Giro and Burgos he was the Leader. next year he will get extra support in the Giro with Mcnulty, Novak and Grosschartner. Fisher Black will also make his Grand Tour debut. this could also be the Vuelta. Almeida won at QS hill stages. now at Uae it were 2 mountain stages of 2000m+. without bad luck in the Giro 4th and a view of the podium. and now in the Vuelta without super form top 7. it could be worse, right?
Next year, joao almeida will be super domestique of pogacar at the tour.
No more giro for him.
 
Ayuso comes across as a serious pr!ck. Apparently he has constantly been undermining almeida since he got to uae. And he literally attacked when almeida was off the front today. That’s the problem with long term contracts to 19 year olds. And to think that Remco gets flak for arrogance. He NEVER acted like this guy. I really wonder what uae is doing giving him a longer contract than Pog. I have literally NEVER seen him do any work at all for any teammate. Remco worked for Ala. still does. And Jacobson. And worked for Gilbert at the worlds.

Hoping almeida kicks his ass.
 
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Ayuso comes across as a serious pr!ck. Apparently he has constantly been undermining almeida since he got to uae. And he literally attacked when almeida was off the front today. That’s the problem with long term contracts to 19 year olds. And to think that Remco gets flak for arrogance. He NEVER acted like this guy. I really wonder what uae is doing giving him a longer contract than Pog. I have literally NEVER seen him do any work at all for any teammate. Remco worked for Ala. still does. And Jacobson. And worked for Gilbert at the worlds.

Hoping almeida kicks his ass.
Let me start by agreeing you that some negative comments towards Remco absolute nonsense. However, it is also a bit harsh to criticize Ayuso like this imo, especially when the whole UAE squad just does't work like a team barring stage 1 this Vuelta. Soler, Polanc, Ayuso and Almeida himself all rode strangely at times this Vuelta, and this pattern in the team really extends to whichever race Pogi isn't riding. Therefore, I believe the team should take more responsibility than any individual in this case.
 
Ayuso comes across as a serious pr!ck. Apparently he has constantly been undermining almeida since he got to uae. And he literally attacked when almeida was off the front today. That’s the problem with long term contracts to 19 year olds. And to think that Remco gets flak for arrogance. He NEVER acted like this guy. I really wonder what uae is doing giving him a longer contract than Pog. I have literally NEVER seen him do any work at all for any teammate. Remco worked for Ala. still does. And Jacobson. And worked for Gilbert at the worlds.

Hoping almeida kicks his ass.

I think it's a bit unfair to start calling 19 year olds "serious p***" or whatever. Remco and Quinn Simmons said and did some ill-advised things, for example, at that age, but even now, 2-3 years later, they've mellowed and Remco has become downright gracious and QS comes across as humble, even (at least in public). Let's check back with Ayuso in a few years...

Ayuso's role, as I understood it, was more to just see how he went, while Almeida was to make the serious GC push. Unfortunately the egg got a bit scrambled when Almeida lost time, so UAE is basically freelancing here. It's not helping that McNulty is invisible and Soler is riding for Team Soler, as much as I like the guy.
 
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Countless *** have been successful athletes.

This! I'd say the traits needed to win in themselves aren't the most lovable traits there are.

And then add being bought my sponsors, clinical aspects etc etc and you have a net of deceit and lying. Plus all time you have to spend away from your family also makes you not the best parent.

I could go on and on and on.
 
In general I think relying on young guys to be stable domestiques is wishful thinking.

Someone who has always been told how good he is like Ayuso won't work for anyone that easily. And in this race he shouldn't.

But I don't see him as an *** at all, more like a bit reckless and impulsive?
 
Ayuso comes across as a serious pr!ck. Apparently he has constantly been undermining almeida since he got to uae. And he literally attacked when almeida was off the front today. That’s the problem with long term contracts to 19 year olds. And to think that Remco gets flak for arrogance. He NEVER acted like this guy. I really wonder what uae is doing giving him a longer contract than Pog. I have literally NEVER seen him do any work at all for any teammate. Remco worked for Ala. still does. And Jacobson. And worked for Gilbert at the worlds.

Hoping almeida kicks his ass.
What did Ayuso do- say "one day you'll be working for me" to Almeida?
Like it or not he'd be right, that is if Almeida sticks around long enough to find out.

Anyway Almeida might do well to study the career of Cadel Evans, another diminutive climber who looked like he should be reasonably punchy but wasn't at all.
 
What did Ayuso do- say "one day you'll be working for me" to Almeida?
Like it or not he'd be right, that is if Almeida sticks around long enough to find out.

Anyway Almeida might do well to study the career of Cadel Evans, another diminutive climber who looked like he should be reasonably punchy but wasn't at all.

A post full of nonsenses if you ask me.
He’s on a contract with UAE until 2026 so don’t know what you are talking about.
Don’t understand what you mean calling him a diminutive climber? He surely hasn’t anything diminutive in him, surely not the best climber in the WT but way above average, besides he’s atm 1 of the top 10 GC riders in the peloton. Easily 2nd tier class GC rider, just clearly lacking to Poga, Vinge, Roglic, Evenepoel and before crash Bernal. With potential to be in close contention with any of the other GC riders so very capable of podium a GT in the future.
As for not being punchy I think he’s punchy enough. Just wasn’t at the best of forms in the first half of this GT and I think that Covid had something to do with it. As we saw today he’s getting better and with a chance of ending top5 which isn’t to bad.
 
No way he doesn't do the Giro in my opinion. I also think the could work well with Pog as a co-leader, especially if his time trial goes back to at Quickstep. He seemed to work well with Evenepoel towards the end of the year.
I don't understand the problem correctly? in Uae Tour he was co-leader with Pogacar. in Catalonia, Paris Nice, Giro and Burgos he was the Leader. next year he will get extra support in the Giro with Mcnulty, Novak and Grosschartner. Fisher Black will also make his Grand Tour debut. this could also be the Vuelta. Almeida won at QS hill stages. now at Uae it were 2 mountain stages of 2000m+. without bad luck in the Giro 4th and a view of the podium. and now in the Vuelta without super form top 7. it could be worse, right?

I don´t know if you are portuguese or not, but marco chagas former rider and journalist from rtp portugal, said that spoke to joao almeida about his calendar for next year. And he said that next year he will be with pogacar at the tour france.

And it makes sense. Ayuso should be the leader at the giro. Joao almeida doesn't have the capability to win a grand tour (he can do top 10), so it makes sense to put him working for pogacar, because he will need help.
Ayuso is a different animal, he can win grand tours next year. Joao almeida is not a elite rider, he have a lot of weaknesses, that make difficult for him to win a grand tour.

I'm not a hater of joao almeida because i'm also portuguese, but we need to be honest in the evaluation of the riders.
 
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