"If you have not good legs it's a nightmare" - João Almeida on second Suisse stage win and brutal final time-trial

João Almeida seems to be the strongest climber this week at the Tour de Suisse and today he made it count with a second stage win. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider has managed to cut off another 6 seconds from Kévin Vauquelin's lead, but still has to take back quite some time on tomorrow's queen stage.

"We wanted to go for the stage again we had nothing to lose. Although the gap was small - it was bigger before but still a good gap - but for sure a win was not guarranteedd," the Portuguese said in words to CyclingPro.net. "We had nothing to lose to go for the stage, the team was really good, pulled all day they did a fantastic job and I had to finish it off".

With the survivors from the breakaway caught in the penultimate climb, it became a battle between the main GC contenders for the stage win. Almeida, active there already, made the very small group of riders that would go into the final ascent ahead.

Felix Gall launched an attack but the Portuguese brought him back, and then it ultimately came down to a sprint between the five strongest on the day. Almeida is not the most explosive out of them, but took advantage of the climbing and the long sprint to properly use his climbing ability.

"It was a long sprint I can tell you, I counted every meter," he said, after yellow jersey Vauquelin surprised with a late attack. "We're a bit lucky because the last part was flat, it would otherwise be much harder to close the gap. Sometimes you lose sometimes you win".

Now what separates him from the overall win is only 33 seconds, however it will come down to feeling on the day at the race's final time-trial. "If you have good legs it's amazing, if you have not good legs it's a nightmare. Hopefully my legs are good enough".