24-year-old Portuguese, Joao Almeida has a history with the Giro d'Italia. Finishes of 4th in 2020 and 6th in 2021, Almeida is ready to another crack at victory in 2023.
"I've been feeling good, I'm in shape and I'll arrive at the Giro fresh and ready for war," the UAE Team Emirates rider tells Top Cycling. "I like to end with a training block to start the race fresher and with less wear and tear. Competition is high wear while training is more controlled. I like to prepare like this, it's been going well, but we'll find out in this Giro."
Competition is set to be fierce however. Former Grand Tour winners such as Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart are all set to be involved in the battle for the Maglia Rosa so how does Almeida plan to challenge his rivals. "Sometimes I see them attacking and I think 'I'm going at my pace because it's not worth doing these accelerations'," he explains. "The efforts they make will pay off, that's for sure. No matter how strong they are, they will resent it. I believe in my capabilities and I know that at that rate if I don't reach them it's because they are supermen. That's how I think, they'll eventually slow down because they're not iron either. That's how I think and so far it's been going well."
There will also be competition within the UAE Team Emirates team as well with Jay Vine starting as a very credible plan-b. "There is a clear hierarchy. This was not talked about within the team. It will have to be spoken clearly within the team, but in the hierarchy, I'm plan A. That's not even an issue," Almeida says. "Clearly I am plan A and I give much more guarantees than anyone else. Even more so coming from an injury and without doing races before to see the level he's at, but he also knows that I'm plan A and things have to be clear."
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