João Almeida on missing out on Tour de France with Tadej Pogacar: "I don't think I'm fundamental to him winning a Tour"

João Almeida is starting his season next week at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana and will take on a very important year in his career, where his importance at UAE Team Emirates - XRG remains just as high, and he will return to the Giro d'Italia in an attempt to win it. The Portuguese spoke out to the media this afternoon and has shared his thoughts on his calendar, another battle with Jonas Vingegaard, and the absence of races with Tadej Pogacar.

“I hope to find good legs. The goal is to compete in the race, to enter the Algarve with competitive rhythm," Almeida said in a press conference this afternoon, in words collected by Portuguese Cycling Magazine. He was second last year in Valencia, and this time around he will have none other than Remco Evenepoel in the same peloton. Then, the Portuguese rider will race the Volta ao Algarve.

Inbetween was the Figueira Champions Classic initially, but he has since removed it from his plan. "I decided to focus more on stage races and I need to rest well between races. I still think it's possible to win, but it's not easy.” Hence he will race Algarve, then Paris-Nice, and lastly the Volta a Catalunya to end his spring run, where he will be racing against Jonas Vingegaard whom he will then face at the Giro d'Italia.

Both riders will have a secondary lineup supporting their GC ambitions. Positioning will be key with an experienced lineup there, so as to avoid losing time against a rival who is on paper stronger, however he admits that sometimes it is his choice to not be near the front of the peloton. “Sometimes I give up a good position to save my legs. The front isn't always the best place.”

But regardless of the competition, the pink jersey is the ultimate goal this May: “Winning a Grand Tour is a career goal, and I will try my best to make it happen. Initially the plan was to do Tour-Vuelta, but after discussing with the team, we came to the conclusion that I could do the Giro. It’s a good opportunity to win the race, and if I don’t win, to be as close as possible.”

“It was expected that he (Jonas Vingegaard, ed.) would be there. I’ll have a very strong opponent, but that ends up motivating me. Nobody is unbeatable and the Giro is a more open race.”

Almeida is currently training in the Algarve, preparing a season where he's got strong performances to back up. Last year he won the Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse; besides finishing second in Valencia, Algarve and also the Vuelta a España. It would've been hard to imagine a better season.

“Without a doubt, it was my best season ever, with victories of great value. We are here for another year and we will try to surpass the previous season. The only thing that could have gone better was the crash in the Tour," he adds however. "It was an unlucky moment, but it's part of cycling.”

He will have to miss out on the Tour de France however, where Isaac del Toro will instead take on his role as the last man in front of Pogacar in the mountains. “I’ve already done two consecutive years. The Tour is the Tour, but it’s also good to change the calendar. I don't even know if there was a reaction. I believe he was slightly sad, but I don't think I'm fundamental to him winning a Tour.”