UAE Team Emirates-XRG may not have only Tadej Pogačar aiming for the general classification in the Vuelta a España this August. The Slovenian's Portuguese teammate João Almeida says he's not ruling out acting as a 'Plan B' for the squad, although it hinges entirely on his feelings in the opening stages of this year's race.
"It only depends on my legs, I'll see how I go in the first few days, and then we'll see," Almeida told Cyclingnews at the teams presentation in Monaco on Thursday evening.
The 28-year-old had a difficult build-up to the Vuelta a España, with a crash-out at the Tour of Pologne curtailing his preparation in his final race before the Spanish Grand Tour. And that was only the latest chapter in what has been a difficult season for the Portuguese racer, who was beset by an illness in the spring and suffered through six stages of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes before taking another break from racing.
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On the other hand, Almeida was the rider who ran overall winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) the closest in last year's Vuelta a España, taking second overall and clinching a spectacular stage win on the Angliru. He also has a third place in the Giro d'Italia and a fourth place in the Tour de France in his palmares, but the 2025 Vuelta was where he took his best GC result to date.
"It's a race where I was successful before, but the past doesn't give us any guarantees," Almeida said.
"I have good memories from it, but in the end of the day it's all about the legs you have at the moment. Hopefully mine are not too bad."
The starting point
The first test for the GC contenders is Saturday's 9-kilometre, technical time trial through the streets of Monaco. But as Almeida sees it, the gaps that could be established there are minimal and the most important thing is to keep a perspective on the long term, rather than take too many risks.
And being so short, the information that can be garnered by riders regarding their overall form is minimal, too.
"You learn a bit but not much to be honest, it's technical, so the risks you take can play into the result," Almeida said. "And I don't think it's worth it to take too many risks. Those nine kilometres - the time gaps are not going to decide anything at all.
"These days you have nothing to win and everything to lose. So it's just about doing some good efforts, control what you can control, cross the finish line safely and that's it."
As far as the route is concerned, the Vuelta start in Monaco could hardly be further from Almeida's native Portugal. But having ridden four Vueltas to date, he's not overly troubled by the absence of stages near to his homeland, given how much he's raced in Spain.
Rather, his main goal to see what he can achieve without any unexpected incidents or misfortune skewing his performance.
"I'm hoping for some nice days, just enjoying the bike and feeling good, and that's it," he concluded.
"So long as there is no bad luck in the equation, the rest is completely fine."
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