Another contender for Tour de France victory? João Almeida on fire during training ride and takes KOM from Juan Ayuso
Cycling
UAE Team Emirates - XRG depth and strength is apparent all-year long, and this was the case once again during the Giro d'Italia where they had two contenders for the overall victory. The same may happen at the Tour de France, as Tadej Pogacar will team up with a João Almeida who is putting fear into rivals with his training numbers.
Almeida was given a leadership role in several races during the spring and rode to a second place at both the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana and Volta ao Algarve; beat Jonas Vingegaard to victory in a summit finish at Paris-Nice...
But later on in the spring he really kicked off his campaign, winning two stages and the overall classification at Itzulia Basque Country, an impressive dominating performance where he was almost unrivalled. He would conclude his spring campaign by also winning the Tour de Romandie.
Almeida, like Tadej Pogacar and the team's Tour de France block, has been training at altitude in Sierra Nevada - only he will race the Tour de Suisse unlike Pogacar, where he should be the main favourite for the overall classification.
He certainly will enter that status after an impressive KOM that has caught the attention of fans. On the Alto del Purche, in the Granada area, Almeida beat the previous KOM of Juan Ayuso (of 13:22 minutes) by a whole 32 seconds, bringing down the record time to 12:50 now. The Top10 is packed with some of the world's top climbers, who have both set these times in training rides and racing scenarios.
The segment, which is over 6 kilometers long at 9% average gradient, was climbed at an average speed of 20.6Km/h by the Portuguese rider who besides being a very consistent rider and excellent time-trialist, is also consistently evolving as a strong climber.
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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