Giro d'Italia victory "pretty unlikely" - João Almeida admits gap to Geraint Thomas grows too big

The Giro d'Italia sees its climax today as the riders must go up the brutal Monte Lussari. It's a day all have feared since the start of the race, João Almeida is set to wrap up his podium position this afternoon but he admits it will be hard to ambition for more.

“I gave it everything I had. I was up there until the end but the others got a bit of a gap. It was so steep and hard to attack, you really needed amazing legs," he said atop Tre Cime di Lavaredo last afternoon. The Portuguese rider took a fantastic stage win at Monte Bondone on stage 16 which together with a consistent race saw him only seconds away from the pink jersey of Geraint Thomas. He had hoped to remain in the fight for victory but the last two days proved complicated.  

As the gradients tightened in the climbs to Coi and Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the attacks of Primoz Roglic and Geraint Thomas took some more seconds on the 24-year-old. Almeida paced his way up the brutal final climb and lost 23 seconds on Roglic, and 20 on Thomas. Now he sets off for the final time trial in third place but is already 59 seconds down on the Welshman.

"It’s not impossible to make up the time but it’s pretty unlikely. Overall I’ll be happy with my performance and the team's performance on this Giro," he concluded, nevertheless being a strong contender for the stage win taking into consideration his performance over the past three weeks.