Joao Almeida, before stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia: "Maybe we are conservative thinking about tomorrow, which is the D-Day"

Joao Almeida won more than just the stage on Mount Bondone, he also earned the right to be considered equal favorites with Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic to win the Giro d'Italia. Before the tough stage 18, he spoke to the press and had the following to say:

"It's the first of three tough stages, so maybe we're being conservative thinking about tomorrow, which is D-Day. But anyway, we'll see how things go, if we see an opportunity we'll try to take it."

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He was asked about the fact that bonus seconds could be important in today's stage, as he is just 18 seconds behind Geraint Thomas in the general classification:

"We'll see, we'll see how the stage goes, the breakaway and so on. Maybe we'll take control, we'll see. I'm in a good position, close to Geraint and with Primoz needing to make up time. I don't expect him (Roglic) to attack today for tomorrow, but you never know, we have to be attentive and follow him if we can."

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Alberto Contador believes there will be fireworks on stage 18: "I think that if you launch an attack in Coi you can make a difference"

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