João Almeida just won the Tour de Romandie, but can he get even stronger? "I never felt 100%"

João Almeida is a very consistent rider and this spring he has been performing very well. Having the lead given by UAE Team Emirates - XRG in plenty races, he has seized it, and closed off his spring campaign with a second GC win in the space of a few weeks at the Tour de Romandie.

“I am very happy, because my goal was to win here. Unfortunately, I was not able to win a stage, but I was always at the front and I am very happy with the final victory. The team did a good job, we can be proud of that”, the Portuguese said in a post-race interview.

Almeida built his GC win with a strong prologue, a brilliant performance on the queen stage where only Lenny Martínez managed to match him at Thyon 2000, and this Sunday he finished second once again - now to Remco Evenepoel - but the time he won on Martínez and Lorenzo Fortunato was enough to jump into the yellow jersey.

However it is interesting that he states that he wasn't at his very best level, which could be quite interesting ahead of the Tour de France where he will be a domestique for Tadej Pogacar, but could even have some freedom himself if he continues to perform so strongly. "I had a good day, but I suffered the whole week. I never felt 100% and did not feel very strong, but I did my best and never gave up. Then it is all about mindset".

The conquering of the overall classification was for him the expected scenario this morning. “No, I was quite confident about my time trial. If I had good legs, I was the favorite for the final victory and I had the advantage, but you never know… It was a tough time trial and then the legs do the talking. Luckily I had the legs I needed. Now I’m going to take some vacation first and then I’m going to ride the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France.”