Everything about Joao Almeida

Who is João Almeida?

João Almeida is a Portuguese professional cyclist and rider for UAE Team Emirates. He is best known as Portugal's current best professional road cyclist, one of the most consistent stage riders and best scorers in the UCI rankings. He has won races such as the Tour of Poland and the Tour of Luxembourg, while also riding all his Grand Tours high in the standings and riding most of the 2020 Giro d'Italia in the pink jersey.

Name: João Almeida
Birthday: August 5, 1998
Birthplace: Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
Turned pro: 2017

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João Almeida

João Almeida was born on Aug. 5, 1998, in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. With the rise of Portuguese cycling in recent years, Almeida is the country's first Grand Tour specialist in a long time. He has already achieved several top results in his short career, working with the likes of Tadej Pogacar.

João Almeida currently has one of the longest-running contracts in cycling, he has signed with UAE Team Emirates until 2026, with a reported salary between €1-2 million euros. Almeida rode the Piancavallo climb of the 2020 Giro d'Italia for an estimated 38 minutes at 6.34W/Kg, with his FTP at around 6.1-6.3W/Kg (assuming it might've increased ever since).

Almeida first stood out at the international level in the 2016 season, where, as a junior in his senior year, he took many victories in domestic races and cup competitions and also became a national champion in both time trial and road racing. In 2017, his first year as a pro rider, he rode for the Bulgarian Unieuro Trevigiani-Hemus 1896 team, where he won a stage in the Tour of Ukraine, in the Tour of Mersin and in the Toscana Terra di Ciclismo Eroica in a calendar that was a mix between races under-23 and Eastern European calendar mostly.

In 2018 , Almeida signed with the Hagens Berman Axeon team, where several Portuguese riders made a move. To this day, the American team is considered by many to be the best under-23 team in the world and allowed him to combine his calendar of under-23 races with an international calendar. He gave good indications by winning the Liège-Bastogne-Liège under-23 in April and then riding to 2nd place in the Giro d'Italia under-23 where only Aleksandr Vlasov beat him. Almeida also finished 5th in the Ronde de l'Isard and 7th in the Tour de l'Avenir.

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In 2019 , Almeida had a quieter year, however, away from the main under-23 stage races he specialized in. He became Portuguese champion in the road race and time trial in his category and finished 4th in the Tour of Utah late in the year, a performance that moved him back up the ranks. His performances were convincing and he signed a two-year contract with Deceuninck-Quick Step. He did not ride in top form in his start with the team, but after the Covid-19 break, Almeida was in top form and battled for victories alongside the other World Tour contenders. He finished 3rd in the Vuelta a Burgos, where Remco Evenepoel took victory, and then 7th in the Tour de l'Ain, where Primoz Roglic won. He then finished 2nd again after Vlasov, but this time in the Elite Giro dell'Emilia.

Almeida then finished 3rd in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and won his place in the lineup of the Giro d'Italia. He nearly rode to the pink jersey with a 2nd place finish on the opening day, but on stage 3 to Mount Etna, the Portuguese rode to the lead. Although he is a strong climber, few expected him to resist the way he did, with a huge breakthrough throughout the Giro. Almeida retained the pink jersey for the rest of the 1st week and then throughout the 2nd week through mountain stages and a time trial.

João Almeida

It wasn't until stage 18, when INEOS attacked the race, that Almeida fell back from the lead. Nevertheless, he remained in great form in the following days and climbed back up to 4th place. So 2021 began with different goals and status within the team, with a 3rd place in the UAE Tour at the beginning of the year, a 6th and 7th place in Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta a Catalunya, respectively. He led the team together with Remco Evenepoel at the beginning of the Giro, but a bad day in the rain at the beginning of the year caused him to drop away in the GC and work for the Belgian. However, as Remco Evenepoel struggled with his form from the 2nd week, Almeida was given freedom in the final week.

He started stage 16 in 13th place with a gap of 8:32 minutes to Egan Bernal, but finished the race in 6th place with a gap of 7:24 minutes. He popped through the final week and nearly won stage 17 to Sega di Ala. He then won the Portuguese national time trial championships and won the overall in the Tour de Pologne, where he took two stage wins. In the second half of the year, he continued on a more secondary calendar, also winning a stage and the overall in the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg and finishing on the podium of both the Giro dell'Emilia and Milano-Torino.

In 2022 he signed a contract with UAE Team Emirates that had him teaming up with Tadej Pogacar in his debut in the UAE Tour where the team won the GC and Almeida still rode to 5th place. He finished 8th in Paris-Nice and in the Volta a Catalunya he won the queen stage to Boí Taüll. Almeida rode in the lead in the Spanish race until the 6th stage where Richard Carapaz and Sergio Higuita overtook the race and Almeida settled for 3rd position. When he was released, he was designated the leader for the Giro d'Italia, where he rode a strong and consistent race.

Almeida was in contention for the podium along with Jai Hindley, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa, but was forced to abandon the race before the 18th stage because he tested positive for Covid-19 while in 4th place. He recovered and the following month won the national road race championships and the queen stage in the Vuelta a Burgos, where he also finished 2nd overall. The Vuelta a Espana was then on the menu where he shared the lead with Juan Ayuso. Almeida rode to 5th position in the Spanish Grand Tour after a consistent race, contributing to the team's victory in the team classification.

In 2023, Almeida rode to sixth in the Volta ao Algarve, then finished second to Primoz Roglic in the Tirreno-Adriatico and third to Roglic and Remco Evenepoel in the Volta a Catalunya. The latter two were expected to be his main rivals in the Giro d'Italia - again, his main goal of the season. In Italy, Almeida led UAE Team Emirates and put in a series of very consistent performances in the mountains and time trials, leading him into the final week in fourth place. Stage 16 was another step in his career, however, on that day there were big gaps on the Monte Bondone summit finish and after his team prepared the climb, he attacked and teamed up with Geraint Thomas to distance himself. Almeida then won the sprint, his first Grand Tour stage win.

João Almeida at the 2024 Vuelta a España

However, he was no match for Thomas and eventual winner Primoz Roglic, but finished on the last step of the podium in Rome. He won the national time trial championships after the Giro and then finished second in the Tour de Pologne in preparation for the Vuelta a Espana. Almeida had a very difficult day in stage 13 - as did Remco Evenepoel - and lost a significant amount of time, hindering his GC ambitions at the top. However, due to his consistency, he climbed back up and finished the race in ninth place.

In 2024 the Portuguese rider started his season at Paris-Nice, and then supported Tadej Pogacar to victory at the Volta a Catalunya. His spring very much ended there in terms of results, but he returned in the summer with great form. At the Tour de Suisse, he finished second in the overall classification only behind teammate Adam Yates. The duo dominated all of the race's mountain stages and Almeida himself won two of them. The duo then went on to play a key support role for Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France - which led to a third win for the Slovenian.

Almeida finished fourth in his debut at the Grand Boucle, only behind his teammate Pogacar; Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel - despite his support role. This was the result of a very consistent race both in the time-trials and the many mountain stages. Almeida was a victory contender for the Vuelta a España and right from the opening days of the race - which started in his home country of Portugal - he presented himself in great form. However, he tested positive and abandoned the race before the start of stage 9.