As spectacular as it was on the bike, it was just as lackluster in the flash interview. Joao Almeida is clearly a man of action rather than words, as was once again evident after the fourth stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour. The Portuguese rider won after a solo break of fifty kilometers.
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Almeida dropped everyone on the Splügenpass and maintained his lead all the way to the finish in Italy. "It was a tough effort after some good teamwork, so I’m happy I could finish it off," he said stoically in his flash interview.
With that, he shaved a minute off his deficit to race leader Romain Grégoire, who still holds a 2:07 lead. "There’s still a long way to go. I need to make up a lot of time, but I’m happy with this stage and I want to enjoy that."
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Read more below the video!
Almeida top favorite for the Tour of Switzerland? "I disagree"
The interviewer suggested to Almeida that, looking ahead to Thursday’s tough stage, he is now the top favorite for the Tour de Suisse. “I don’t agree, because I still have to make up two minutes, and that’s a tough task,” the stage winner responded.
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“But we’re not going to give up. I’m going to try, because you only know if you try,” Almeida added. On Thursday, the peloton finishes in Santa Maria, after a climb of nearly five kilometers at ten percent.
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.