João Almeida doesn’t have a good level of fitness at the beginning of the Vuelta a España. The main cyclist of the UAE Team Emirates acknowledged this fact during a press conference that took place before the start of the race in Barcelona (as previously reported by Giro do Ciclismo).
“I’m aware that my physical condition doesn’t match the significant form I had before the Giro, due to setbacks that occurred after the World Championship,” stated the third-place finisher in the last edition of the Giro d’Italia.
The cyclist from Caldas da Rainha compared this year to the previous one when he finished in fifth place in the final classification of the Vuelta. “Last year, my preparation wasn’t ideal, and I faced many setbacks. This year has been much better in that aspect. I’m looking forward to the first week in this strong field,” he said.
Jumbo-Visma is the team to beat with two champions, Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič. The last two times Almeida raced against Vingegaard were in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Tour of Lombardy. “Of course, he is very strong,” says the Portuguese cyclist. “He comes from the Tour and rested well. Even though he didn’t do altitude training, he had good preparation.”
Knowing his possibilities
“In Andorra, on the 3rd stage, we will immediately see the first opportunities,” says Almeida, who admits there was no team time trial training for the opening stage. “We didn’t really prepare for that. It could have been better. But the feeling is good. Winning will be difficult, so the most important thing is not to fall, not to have bad luck, and to keep the time difference small compared to the others. Then we can be happy.”
Almeida will share the leadership with Juan Ayuso, the 3rd place finisher of the 2022 Vuelta. “It won’t be easy, but our cooperation is good. I believe we can compete for the podium,” said João. Ayuso shares this view. “Of course, you want to achieve at least the same as last year, but the field of participants is stronger now.”