In 2020 João Almeida impressed the world at the Giro d’Italia. At just 22 years old and in his first year as a professional, Almeida stood on the podium and held the Maglia Rosa for fifteen days, a remarkable feat for a debutant.
Meteoric rise
In an interview with the website roleur.cc, João Almeida, looked back on his base in Portugal and the last three years of success within the World Tour.
Following his impressive performance at the Giro d’Italia, where he finished fourth, Almeida had attracted the attention of UAE Team Emirates. “After that Giro I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this was a one-time thing. I did it once, that’s it. Can I do two?’”, reveals the cyclist from Caldas da Rainha.
He answered that question with a sixth place in the Giro the following year. “Things went very well, apart from a bad day which is part of the game, I could feel that I really was a Grand Tour cyclist.”
Covid disrupted plans in 2022
In his first two seasons with UAE Team Emirates, after his departure from Deceuninck-QuickStep, Almeida returned to the Giro twice more, abandoning with Covid before the 18th stage in 2022, when he was fourth overall, and then climbing the podium with a third place in 2023.
Despite his impressive consistency in three-week races and a five-year contract, Almeida is still not considered a favorite for a Grand Tour, largely due to his racing style, considered by experts to be somewhat conservative.
“I know, I’m aware of it, but I still don’t feel like I’m at my peak and I feel like I still have something to develop and evolve and that will be enough to win a Grand Tour, but I’m calm about that. If I don’t believe I can do it, I never will. And I believe I can do this. Maybe some people will be surprised, others not so much.”
Chaos in Portugal
João Almeida is arguably Portugal’s biggest cycling star, but says he prefers to stay as far away from his country’s cycling scene as possible. “There is a lot of chaos,” he says, in reference to the constant repetition of local doping scandals.
“Fortunately, when I was in the junior teams, I had some coaches with a good mentality and my goal was to get out of Portugal as quickly as possible. And I did that after my first few years.”
“I think I created my reputation outside of Portugal, people know me from the WorldTour. Despite being Portuguese, my flag does not place me in this chaos. But for future cyclists, it might be a problem to always be associated with this chaos.”
