Sick Almeida forced to surrender against superior Vingegaard: "I was on the limit all day"

UAE Team Emirates - XRG took the lead throughout the race, and after being launched by mountain king Jay Vine, it was up to Almeida. He set a fast pace in his own style, but it wasn't enough to drop Vingegaard. “It was tough,” Almeida sighed at the top of the grueling final climb. “I was already at my limit for the entire ride, but we had to try. We had nothing to lose.”

Vingegaard was able to keep up with the Portuguese rider's pace, and when Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) took the lead, it became clear that the Dane would take the overall victory. Almeida was unable to keep up with his acceleration, partly due to his physical condition, as it turned out.

“The idea was to ride as hard as possible, all day long. Unfortunately, I've been sick this week, so I wasn't feeling too great, but you have to give it a try. I think that's the most important thing,” said Almeida, who was yet another rider in this Vuelta to be afflicted by germs. Vingegaard also suffered from this in the second week.

Ultimately, the Portuguese leader crossed the finish line in sixth place, 22 seconds behind the stage winner. His gap behind Vingegaard in the GC is 1 minute and 16 seconds going into Madrid after three grueling weeks. “I have no regrets. We did what we could. Congratulations to Jonas; he was very strong. It's okay to finish behind him,” he remains realistic.

The smile remained on Almeida's face, who actually always smiles, even when his UAE teammates didn't provide the support that was expected, even when the 27.2-kilometer time trial in the third week was suddenly reduced to 12.2 kilometers, even when Vingegaard had already beaten him on day 9, and even when he was runner-up in the Vuelta a España.

A second place in a Grand Tour was already called “a revelation” by team boss Mauro Gianetti, and it is also Almeida's best performance in a three-week race. He has been in the top ten of the Grand Tours for years, but only in the 2023 Giro d'Italia did he finish third (with the white youth jersey on his shoulders).

In that same Giro in 2020, Almeida made his breakthrough as a GC rider, wearing the pink jersey for a long time while still riding for Soudal-Quick Step and eventually finishing fourth in the GC. A year later, he finished sixth, but could have done better if he hadn't had to do so much work for his team leader, Remco Evenepoel, who eventually had to withdraw from the race.

When Almeida joined UAE in 2022, he immediately became an even better rider. He finished fourth and ninth in the 2022 and 2023 Vuelta and fourth in the 2024 Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar's super domestique. Second place in the Vuelta is therefore his sixth top ten and fourth top five finish in ten Grand Tours he has completed.