"If I feel good I will attack" - João Almeida promises more attacks amidst maiden Giro d'Italia

Joao Almeida took a fantastic victory on the Monte Bondone finish in the first meaningful (in terms of differences) stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023. The Portuguese is now second overall behind Geraint Thomas and was hugely satisfied after his great performance:

"I am very happy, finally the dream comes true, after four years the dream was always so close and so far away and finally I have achieved it, I am very very happy, I have no words to describe it," the Portuguese said in a post-race interview.

He admitted that the team had been at a high level and that he felt strong. He has the clear idea that if you don't take risks, you don't win:

"The team was fantastic, they did a great job as always, I tried to go at the end, it was a very hard day, uphill and downhill, bad weather, but I went for it. If you don't take risks you never know what's going to happen. I tried and I succeeded. Thanks to my team, my family, my girlfriend, everyone who supports me".

Finally, he makes it clear that his Giro does not end here and that he is going for the final victory in Rome: "I'm always going to go for more, if I feel good I'm going to attack. If I don't attack it's because I'm not doing well, but I'm always going to give everything until the end."

He admits that he spoke with Thomas and that they talked about trying to take more time out of Roglic: "I tried and I was lucky in the end. I talked to GT and we wanted to widen the gap to Roglič." With this victory Almeida has climbed to second in the overall classification, only 18 seconds away from new race leader Geraint Thomas.