"Adam Yates wanted to go, but maybe he went from a little too far" - Joao Almeida overtakes teammate at the last to close gap in GC fight at Tour de Suisse

Returning the favour from the previous day, Joao Almeida led home Adam Yates on stage 6 of the 2024 Tour de Suisse as UAE Team Emirates continue to be utterly dominant in the general classification fight in the pre-Tour de France warmup.

"I think it was the shortest stage I ever did!" Almeida laughs in his post-stage interview, referring to the adapted profile of the day after it was reduced to just over 40 kilometres thanks to bad weather. All in all, around an hour of full gas effort for the day and a somewhat unique experience for the majority of the riders in the peloton. "It was quite explosive I'd say but luckily I felt good. The team was good so we can be happy of course."

UAE Team Emirates kept a firm pace on the front all day long, controlling the gap to the break and then destroying things on the final climb. "We anticipated that INEOS Grenadiers would try to set the pace, and we just wanted it to be higher so we had Jan Christen and Isaac del Toro pull," Almeida explains. "Then Adam wanted to go, but maybe he went from a little too far and eventually when I felt good, I bridged."

With Yates and Almeida working in tandem at the front, the duo put more time into the rest of their general classification rivals such as Egan Bernal and Mattias Skjelmose, with Almeida eventually taking the stage win ahead of Yates. "I was in a perfect position at the bottom of the climb so yeah I'm pretty happy with the last two stages," he concludes with an eye on the upcoming individual time-trial. "If I could, I would win everyday but it's not that easy. But I think it suits me so I will do my best.