João Almeida supports UAE and Pogacar's tactics: "He is taking time on almost everyone, that is the most important thing"
CyclingWednesday, 10 July 2024 at 22:00
UAE Team Emirates had a clear plan today: Control the breakaway, win the stage and have Tadej Pogacar take time on Jonas Vingegaard. Safe to say it essentially exploded in their face. João Almeida talks about a well executed plan and the confirmation of a strong Jonas Vingegaard.
“It could have been better, but it was a good day." Almeida in reality wasn't really part of the team's plan. He and Juan Ayuso managed to just sit in the wheels of the GC group whilst Pavel Sivakov and Adam Yates paced up Puy de Mary before Pogacar attacked. Almeida sat in the chasing group where Carlos Rodríguez did most of the work, coming through the finish line in sixth place, 1:49 minutes down on the stage winner. Almeida had a lot to say about the Dane that beat his teammate.
"I think they came here as underdogs, but we knew he was very good. I can’t say more, because you can see that Jonas is flying," Almeida said in words to Wielerflits. "I think his descents are quite good. Maybe he is not the best descender, but he is doing quite well. That shows that he has recovered from the fall.” In the end Vingegaard was able to put a stop to UAE's masterplan, and although he only won one second on the day, having beaten Pogacar in his terrain could've been a difficult blow for the team.
But Almeida assures that the team is neither tired of racing aggressively or that Pogacar was downbeat after a day without a major win. “We wanted to attack and make a difference, the team did a great job so we will definitely try again. He is taking time on almost everyone, that is the most important thing," the Portuguese concluded. With Juan Ayuso falling down the overall standings, Almeida climbed to fifth and sits 4:20 minutes down on Pogacar into stage 12.
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- So, is it solved???Mistermaumau20-05-2025
- Or some health issue. I’d make sure he’s never far from an ambulance with competent crew.Mistermaumau20-05-2025
- I hate to agree. If it was a lesser name that had won in that way, they would have been called a "wheelsucker". Still a win is a win and it goes down in the record books as that, no matter how it is gained.Cyclingsbestfan20-05-2025
- At this point i suspect nobody knows what the problems are. Overtraining/undertraining or sickness or fatigue or just mental pressureabstractengineer20-05-2025
- He should have left the previous time before he signed this contract. But probably the offers weren't lucrative enoughabstractengineer20-05-2025
- He sat on for 40km! That is not a glorious victoryracyrich20-05-2025
- Why do we still see quotes from Wuyts? I’ve yet to read anything constructive from him - always criticizing riders, esp non Belgians. I wonder if he’s just envious of their talent?Crashjames20-05-2025
- Based on the last 5 TTs on WT & Pro levels, ProCyclingStats.com predicts Ayuso could gain 14 seconds on Del Toro, Roglic 20 seconds. Roglic would jump from 10th to 4th in GC during the TT. Personally I think Roglic will gain more than 20 seconds on both.Ride197420-05-2025
- Ah, here's the trick, one may not be able to beat Tadej, but still harbour the hope for GC podium. So, don't pull so hard. Let others do the work, then one can save energy and try to follow when Tadej attacks to limit the time loss.
KerisVroom20-05-2025 - "I don't know how I'll be this season for the World Cup"?? This whole article is strangely worded, but surely that should be World Championship?VinnySport20-05-2025
So far they got away with it because Pogi was strong. This was a stage that exposed his weakness comparatively to Jonas in climbing but he still retains a better punch and ability to follow Jonas. If he does what he did in Stage 6 last year, just follow, he should get it. The onus should be on Visma to drop him not the other way around. After all this aint the Giro
Sounds just like the people defending Joe Biden's performance in the presidential debate in the USA. Delusional. (For the record, I don't like either candidate... but I do like Pogi!)
I was toying with the same analogy myself : )
Let's keep politics far from here. I do like Biden, one of the best presidents ever. There's no comparison between him and a criminal, rapist, traitor.
what you like about it? World is better now than 5 years ago?
I hesitated writing that, Ben. But the comparison seemed so apt.
Jonas is too nice to be Captain Bonespurs
Of course he's not going to admit that their tactics were wrong, and highly ineffective.
And flat out dumb. Holy smokes, I've never seen such dumb race tactics.
I think he might worked out... Put time on Evenepoel and Roglic. The question was if they spent so much energy for such a little gain. That team is so strong is time to play defense.. my opinion
Delusional. Is there actually a group of managers overseeing this idiocy?
Only serious people win the TDF. These people aren't serious.
Calm down. They chose a high risk high reward strategy. It didn’t work out so they worked and gained nothing. But it was no disaster either.