"I think we were perfect today" - João Almeida and UAE Team Emirates take on Valenciana race lead
Cycling
Mathias Vacek started the day in the lead of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana but a crash early in the day made it impossible for the Lidl-Trek rider to defend himself. In the second mountain stage of the race, João Almeida found himself in the virtual lead and in a defensive mindset against Santiago Buitrago. At the end of the day, he jumped into the race lead.
"The stage was not that hard you know, not that many climbs, we gave everything we had, my teammates were amazing today like always," Almeida said in a post-race interview as shared by the team. "We managed to get the bonus seconds to defend ourselves from Santiago, at the finish line the same, it's going to be like this to the end I suppose".
UAE paced in the final tough ascent, and the pace of Pavel Sivakov dropped the former yellow jersey. From there on, it was about controlling Almeida's rivals. He had to respond to Buitrago in the ascent as the two battled for bonifications. Then, Iván Romeo jumped to the stage win with a formidable solo attack. "We were already predicting it, with so many guys close to each other, if one guy gets a gap it's him fighting for the win".
But the Portuguese rider was focused on the race lead, and then sprinted to third in the end, defending himself from the Bahrain - Victorious rider by a mere 2 seconds. "Then we have bonifications in the end as well, I think we were perfect today, we did everything we could, we were able to maximize our performance".
But the race is far from over, with a tricky hilly stage tomorrow where many can attack, and several bonification points where Buitrago could move into the race lead. "One bonification is enough to put me in second at least so until Sunday we go for every second we can, hopefully we can finish it off but it's far away from that," he concluded.
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Problems with the zip, perhaps, but no problems in the legs for @JooAlmeida98. We take the leader’s jersey heading into stage 4! 💛🙌🏻
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) February 7, 2025
Hats off to all of our guys for a fantastic ride today. The plan was to make it hard, and that they did 💪🏻
Tomorrow, we go again! #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/xR9OEhKiu7
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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