#LaVuelta24 It’s 9th place for @ISAACDELTOROx1 in Yunquera. @JooAlmeida98 now sits third on GC. #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE
João Almeida blasts BORA's tactics during explosive Vuelta day: "The pressure is now not only on them but on everyone"
CyclingFriday, 23 August 2024 at 12:00
A lot of the Vuelta a España peloton and pundits have looked at stage 6 and were left scratching their heads at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's tactics. Whilst there was an initial plan of taking Florian Lipowitz to a strong GC place (which did happen), the German team's lack of strong work allowed Ben O'Connor to jump into the race lead with a gap that legitimately threatens to end everyone else's chances of winning the race. João Almeida was mind-boggled with the situation that developed and criticized BORA's actions.
"Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe didn't continue well. Even on the descents they took it easy, which allowed the leading group to gain even more time. I don't really understand that," Almeida said in an interview with The Cycling Podcast. "Bahrain Victorious then added two men and towards the end more teams helped, but in the end it all started with the fact that Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe let the gap get too big".
Almeida is in this race with the goal of winning and with Adam Yates crashing and losing more time on stage 6, the Portuguese assumes an even more important role in UAE Team Emirates. UAE is one of the teams that did a bit of work in yesterday's finale to limit the losses against an O'Connor that could not be stopped, but naturally did not want to burn riders or pace in the final kilometers with Yates losing ground.
It was a disaster day for those with big GC ambitions because O'Connor, fourth at this year's Giro d'Italia, went from having a bad day at Pico Villuercas to having an almost five-minute lead over Primoz Roglic. Almeida sits third now in the standings, 4:59 minutes away from the red jersey.
"I understand that they had someone in front (Florian Lipowitz, ed.), but where is he now?" Almeida questions. "They may have handled that wrong too. In the end they had the red leader's jersey, but the pressure is now not only on them but on everyone". The Portuguese is not a fan of what happened and is aware that there is a new man to beat in this race.
"It's a big lead and it's not going to be easy to win it back. In the end, everyone did their part, so I don't know how he was able to keep it up so well. I think Ben just did a really good job, so I have to congratulate him on that too," he concludes. "The Tour is still long. It's going to be tough, but we have to work hard for it now".
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