"I was waiting for an attack anytime" - João Almeida surprised with Jonas Vingegaard's conservativism in Angliru showdown
Cycling
Few would've expected it, but Jonas Vingegaard was not the strongest and was beaten at the Alto de l'Angliru. The hardest climb of the Vuelta marked the start of the key part of the race, but the Dane saw his lead to João Almeida shortened after the Portuguese outsprinted him atop the end of stage 13.
"This is a special one, I still don't believe it. Thanks to my teammates, they were key today, we did an amazing stage," Almeida said in a post-race interview. Visma put in the effort to control the breakaway on the 13th day of the race, but as soon as the two climbs leading up to the Angliru began, it was Q36.5 and UAE who took over the front of the peloton, looking to provide the confidence and positioning to their men instead of letting Visma control the race at will.
On the final climb, Jay Vine and Felix Grossschartner did an amazing leadout job for the Portuguese who took over the head of the GC group with 6 kilometers to go. He dropped everyone but Jonas Vingegaard on one of cycling's hardest climbs, and although there was little to no benefit in slipstreaming, Jonas Vingegaard was unable to leave Almeida's wheel.
Almeida leading Vingegaard up the Angliru
The attack that didn't come
"I just put my pace from the bottom, and I did the best I could. Jonas was always in the wheel. Last K I was on the limit, I guess we were both on the limit," he says. And by the time that the duo reached the summit of the Angliru, they were still together. The donwhill finale was very fast, narrow and technical, but this wouldn't be a surprise to any of them.
"I was waiting for an attack anytime and I thought he was going to pass me at the finish line but I knew the finish line quite well from two years ago and I took first the last corner and it was hard to pass... It was an amazing day". The red jersey didn't come through, and Almeida could celebrate a stage victory that didn't seem overly likely at the start of the day.
"This is the hardest climb in the world, it's crazy. I still have a lot of time to make up to Jonas, he's looking phenomenal so i think it's going to be a hard task, but we'll never give up". The gap has been reduced to 46 seconds, but UAE's dreams of an overall win have grown.
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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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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