Almeida’s comment about Vingegaard comes back to bite: “That works both ways”

In February, Vingegaard withdrew shortly before the start of the UAE Tour. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider had suffered a crash during the winter and was also feeling ill. According to Almeida, it was not the first time something like that had happened, as he suggested in an interview back then.

“I think normally Jonas and his team tend to exaggerate things a little. They want to make it too perfect,” the Portuguese rider said. “It’s normal to get sick or have a small crash, and I don’t think it has had a big impact on the preparation,” Almeida assumed, believing Vingegaard could have raced regardless.

The two leaders are very likely to meet in the Giro d’Italia, but Paris–Nice was supposed to deliver an earlier showdown. Instead, it was Almeida who withdrew this time, due to illness. Feltet.dk asked Vingegaard about it, and the Visma | Lease a Bike leader did not hold back.

“You always try to make things perfect — but that works the other way around as well,” Vingegaard said, in a clear reference to Almeida’s earlier remarks. “You shouldn’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.” When asked directly if he meant Almeida’s absence from Paris–Nice, the two-time Tour de France winner replied: “Yes, exactly.”

The two Giro contenders could meet again in around a week and a half at the Volta a Catalunya, which is likely to be their final head-to-head before Italy. At the Giro, they can also expect competition from riders such as Richard Carapaz, Felix Gall and Giulio Pellizzari.