João Almeida comes short of both GC lead and stage victory: "I was strong today and we're motivated for the next stages"

Despite an all-out action on the slopes of Font de Partegat, Mathias Vacek remains in the overall lead of Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. The last climbs of the second stage saw UAE Team Emirates - XRG on the attack and eager to make differences. However in the end, they were beaten to it by Bahrain-Victorious duo Santiago Buitrago and Pello Bilbao. UAE's leader João Almeida finished third, 13 seconds further down the road.

This puts him within just two seconds of the Czech rider who can look forward to even greater offense from the Portuguese tomorrow. However Almeida will need to look over his own shoulder too, because Buitrago is only 3 seconds behind with Bilbao and Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) within his sight too.

"It's disappointing not to win the stage, but the guys were impressive today," Almeida had nice words about his teammates' work after the finish. "We knew we had to set a good pace to make things difficult for the leader and in the end both Filippo Baroncini and Felix Großschartner rode very well." the Portuguese rider told the team's official website.

"In the end, the plan was always to use our numbers and with Pavel and Brandon, we managed to do it well. Once I got into my rhythm, I was able to ride strongly and that gives us optimism for the next stages," he concluded.