João Almeida aiming high at Giro d'Italia: "We are going with the objective of the podium"

João Almeida is one of the main favourites entering the Giro d'Italia, as he looks to confirm his potential and be in contention for the race win - leading UAE Team Emirates in this mission.

An interview in the CyclingAndThoughts blog with Almeida has revealed some of his ambitions towards the race. After finishing fourth and sixth in what were his only two Grand Tours so far, the Portuguese is looking to take a step up this season: "I think the Portuguese have very high expectations and can expect me to do my best, that's for sure. Of course, we are going with the objective of the podium, but we know that anything can happen," he said.

As it gets closer, I get more anxious to start and see how I stand against my opponents," he added, however he notes that the sensations are good and the performances this season (5th, 8th and 3rd respectively at the UAE Tour, Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya) are encouraging. He hasn't raced since the end of March, and has been tuning his form in Sierra Nevada before tackling the Giro.

He pointed out: “Feeling pretty good. I was a little sick after Catalunya, but it was here in Sierra Nevada that I started to feel good and got back into shape. It has been going well and I am quite happy with the preparation I have done.”

It's not the best suiting route for him, as Almeida is a strong time-trialist, however he shrugs it off: “It ends up being less advantageous not having so many kilometers of time trial, but in the end it's always the mountain that makes the big differences and that marks the race. The time trial fine-tunes the classification a bit, but it never makes a huge difference in terms of the final classification. Obviously it would be better with more time trials, but even so, we remain confident.”

And as for his rivals, he has a few names in mind. “I think Carapaz is the biggest concern, but Bardet is also pretty strong and Yates is the same. These are the three that I would say are the strongest. Of course, you can never rule anyone out. Carapaz has a great team on his side and I think it can be a very tough Giro with several rivals," Almeida added.

“I'm sure in the last week there will be big differences. Of course, we don't know if anyone will make up time or lose even more time, but I'm sure those two stages [16 and 20] will make a big difference and mark the Giro. I think the winner will come out of there," he concluded.