Frustration among UAE teammates: "Great that he has good legs, but too bad he doesn’t know how to help us"

At the start of the second stage in Aarau, there was time to look back on that crazy short stage on day one. A frequently heard term was 'junior race,' with attacks from start to finish and an uncontrolled stage flow. However, several riders also admitted that it was a bit of UAE's race to lose.

With Almeida, a recent winner in the Basque Country, and Romandy on the team, it was logical that all eyes were on the Emirates team. When they let Felix Grossschartner break away, it triggered a reaction from other teams who sensed an opportunity. Ultimately, 28 riders broke away and gained a lead of more than three minutes.

Almeida, who finished second in last year's Tour de Suisse, had this to say at the start of stage three. "It was just a super chaotic day. Just before we hit that steep climb for the first time, Jan Christen crashed. That wasn't ideal for us," said the Portuguese rider, who still saw his Swiss teammate finish in the group of favorites.

"Two or three men kept breaking away, and that's how the big group eventually formed," was Almeida's view. "In the end, I was alone and couldn't react to everything. We lost a lot, but you know what? It is what it is."

"We rode flat out with several teams but couldn't do much more," said Almeida, who impressed other riders with his climbing. Just as he did a few weeks ago with an impressive Strava KOM.

After stage two, the top favorite is 3.23 minutes behind leader Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ, while someone like Ben O'Connor is more than two minutes ahead. "Those are big differences, but I said before the race: you don't win races with statistics. Everyone saw me as the favorite, but everything can change in one day."

"We're going to do everything we can to turn it around, but it won't be easy," said the UAE rider. "There are a lot of good riders ahead of me, so we'll have to see who we need to focus on the most."

And then there was Christen, who managed to finish in the group of favorites after his crash on day one and even attacked in the final of stage two. "I was stunned when I saw him go. It's great to see that he has good legs. It's a shame he doesn't know how he can help us all, but that's how it is," Mikkel Bjerg said frustratedly on behalf of UAE to TV2 after the second stage.

Earlier this year, Almeida gave Christen a stage win in his home country in the Tour of the Algarve, but the two seem to lack an understanding in Switzerland. Let's see how the next stages unfold!