João Almeida ahead of first Giro summit finish: "It is not the most difficult climb of the Giro but it will be a long day with a finish at altitude"

João Almeida has started the rainy 7th stage of the Giro d'Italia in fourth place one minute exactly back on Andreas Leknessund, and 32 seconds back on Remco Evenepoel. He is aware of the difficulty and importance that today's finale may have in the overall classification.

"It will be a real test for the riders in the general classification. It is quite a long climb until the finish," the Portuguese said. "It is not the most difficult climb of the Giro but it will be a long day with a finish at altitude. We'll see how the legs are after the accident the other day, but hopefully everything will be fine."

The UAE Team Emirates rider has, like many, hit the deck over the last few treacherous days at the Giro but it has not been meaningful, and he's avoided any time losses. His teammates Jay Vine and Brandon McNulty have lost a bit of time and dropped out of GC contention respectively, further fueling his chances of becoming a sole leader in the fight for the pink jersey.

Although it would be unreasonable to think he could get there this afternoon as it stands he's ahead of all big GC contenders expect for Evenepoel, who himself crashed twice two days ago. he sits in a favourable position but without pressure to attack the race. As did both the World champion and Primoz Roglic however Almeida states today is a day to see how the legs are and that may hint at some conservative behavior.