"Could be a problem. We'll see day by day" - João Almeida battles on at 2025 Tour de France after crash

João Almeida will continue the 2025 Tour de France, despite a nasty crash on stage 7. Now, the Portuguese has spoken on his injuries and their potential effect on his riding for the remainder of the Grand Tour.

As the race approached the final kilometres, the fight for position to enter the final climb of the Mur-de-Bretagne was intense and divided between UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The speed was high, the heat was hot and the cyclists already had almost two hundred kilometers in their legs, which leads to moments of lack of concentration that are disastrous.

Almeida was, as mentioned, one of the many involved in the crash that led Jack Haig to abandon the race, and he was badly beaten. He took a while to get up and was seen returning to his bike. He reached the finish line more than 10 minutes after his teammate Tadej Pogacar, who won and dedicated the stage to him at the end.

João Almeida has been taken to a local hospital to be assessed and the news is not at all the most expected, nor the best. According to journalist Jeremy Whittle, who spoke to him, João has problems with a rib and a lot of burns, but he says that it's his hand that's worse. "That could be a problem. We'll see day by day" added João Almeida.

The Portuguese has confirmed that he should be able to start the 8th stage on Saturday, something UAE Team Emirates - XRG, through its clinical director, Dr. Adriano Rotunno clearly agree with. The team issued a statement on João Almeida's condition:

"After clinical examination, we immediately took him for relevant radiological investigations. It’s confirmed he has an uncomplicated left-sided rib fracture, as well as some profound abrasions to his body. Fortunately no concussion. We will be monitoring him carefully going forward. The next few days will be difficult for him, but at this point, he should be able to start tomorrow’s stage.”