"I already feel 100% recovered" - João Almeida ready to tackle La Vuelta and go in pursuit of victory
CyclingTuesday, 12 August 2025 at 13:45
João Almeida has been scheduled to race the Vuelta a España since the start of the season and he is sticking with the plan despite the crash that took him out of the Tour de France. The Portuguese has recently spoken in a video shared by his hometown in Portugal, and has said that he feels recovered.
"As for me, I already feel 100% recovered. I'm preparing for the Vuelta a España. I hope to be close to my best and make my parish proud. A big hug to everyone. I hope everything goes well. Good luck, and keep the 'bota lume'."
Almeida has ridden a superb season, the best in his career so far as he rode to consecutive overall victories at Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse. The latter saw him lose minutes to a few of his competitors on the opening day, but saw him defeat Kévin Vauquelin, Oscar Onley and Felix Gall - the latter two fourth and fifth at the Tour de France later on - to take the yellow jersey.
Almeida looked to be in perfect condition in the opening days of the Grand Boucle, playing a key role to Tadej Pogacar's win on stage 4, but on the seventh day of race he crashed on the approach to the Mur-de-Bretagne.
The Portuguese rider immediately lost his GC aspirations together with Santiago Buitrago as the two seemed to suffer big consequences from the high-speed fall. Almeida fractured a rib but continued in the race in hopes of still playing a support role for Tadej Pogacar, but ultimately abandoned during stage 9 unable to be at a competitive level due to his health.
He has missed out on the Tour but the team nevertheless conquered the overall classification, whilst the 27-year old recovered and began to prepare for the Vuelta a España. He hasn't raced since the Tour and won't until the start of the Vuelta in Italy, where he will be teaming up with Juan Ayuso in the leadership of UAE Team Emirates - XRG as the team looks to battle against Jonas Vingegaard again now but under very different circumstances.
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- What does he need to pay Pogi to lead him out?Veganpotter04-12-2025
- Ayuso is not a surprise if you look at his previous 5yrs.Veganpotter04-12-2025
- What do you mean?BenAflec04-12-2025
- Just making the note that it’s actually closer to 120 because most of it is consumed in the first 4 hrs, not evenly across 5 hrs up until the finish.crharnishphd04-12-2025
- WVA dropped TP and his bad knee.Cyclingnut04-12-2025
- Everyone shouts "rider x" is getting better and could beat Pogacar... Tadej is still improving year on year too.....slappers6604-12-2025
- It's not a big blow for Pogacar. Today, Pogacar relies on a close, increasingly Slovenian circle of experts. Among them, the central figure is his longtime friend Ziga Jerman, who took on the role of masseur in 2025. Jerman has known Pogačar since before his global fame, when they cycled together at the Ljubljana club Rog, so Elguezabal’s departure does not pose a threat for Pogi but rather marks the end of a very successful chapter. UAE will have to fill the gap in its professional staff, but for Pogi, this departure will not play an important role.NikkoNicco04-12-2025
- OK, enough of this BS. No one went to college or university from kindergarten. First, Remco must graduate from high school with excellent results to meet with the professor Pogacar in university and to be in same room with him. But you see, Pogi the Great also has a PhD (doctorate in cycling). In 2026, I want to see that success from Remco in high school, because I haven't seen it in these 7 years.NikkoNicco04-12-2025
- calling him a star in cross before he beats MVDP or WVA is also a big stretch.mij04-12-2025
- I think once he's the undisputed leader in a race, he can become more consistent than he was in the past.Ride197404-12-2025
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