06/08/2022

João Almeida back at the top with "special win" at Lagunas de Neila

João Almeida is one of the most unique riders in the peloton currently, with his traditional climbing style often leading to dramatic finales, and today's at the Vuelta a Burgos was no exception as he stormed to the stage win.

"Today went really well. It’s a special win as the last few months have been difficult, I haven’t been feeling too good on the bike and struggled to find my form," the Portuguese revealed in a post-stage interview. "This week has been important as I’ve been riding my way into the week and today I felt good and attacked and took a win".

Vuelta a Burgos: João Almeida wins queen stage as Pavel Sivakov successfully defends overall classification

He abandoned the Giro d'Italia in it's last week due to a Covid-19 positive whilst fighting for the podium, and although he managed to return to competition with a win at the Portuguese national championships, he struggled to find his best legs. His first days in Burgos were not easy, as he shed time on the opening day, and struggled in the ascent to Picón Blanco at stage three.

However on the queen stage he turned the tables around. Initially dropped at the start of the steepest section of the ascent, Almeida seemed to be far from the stage contention. However one by one he went through many of the GC contenders until he bridged over to the reduced GC group that was down to only three riders. After taking a bit of restbite - if one could call it that - he launched an acceleration inside the final minute of racing, and then held off Miguel Ángel López within the final sprint.

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Although the win was the priority, it also saw him rise to second in the final GC, behind Pavel Sivakov who dealt a killer blow earlier in the week. "The next goal is the Vuelta España in two weeks so I’m going there now with added confidence from today," the 24-year old exclamated.

"Now I’ll rest up a bit, do the last training sessions and try and be ready for La Vuelta. I’m really looking forward to it," he concluded. With Tadej Pogacar now out of the Vuelta for this year, Almeida will have another chance to lead UAE Team Emirates at a Grand Tour.