"João has the mental strength" - Pedro Delgado believes in João Almeida's chances of fighting for Giro d'Italia win
Cycling
João Almeida, who recently finished 2nd in Tirreno-Adriatico only behind Primož Roglič, is one of the riders of the moment. The Portuguese from the UAE Team Emirates will go to the Giro d'Italia, and ex-rider and cycling legend Pedro "Perico" Delgado isn't indifferent to what the Portuguese as been doing.
"João Almeida looks like a rider to me. Maybe physically he has some limitations in relation to other riders, but the mental strength he has is enviable. How he manages the effort and the agony seems to me worthy of admiration and I think that is the biggest potential that João has the mental strength", said Delgado to TopCycling.pt.
Almeida goes to the Giro with strong general classifications ambitions, he already finished 4th and 6th on the race and last year was battling for at least a podium before dropping out due to covid. This year's edition has difficult competition but Perico believes Almeida will be a rider to watch there.
"I think he will play him a very complicated Giro d'Italia by the presence of Evenepoel, Roglic, and another who will cheer to the party. It will be difficult to win. João Almeida has that mental capacity, besides the physical one, that surely will make him the protagonist of the race", he stated.
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Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič will be for sure the main stars at the start of the Giro and the main favourites to win it, and Delgado warns that it will be very difficult for João Almeida to win it.
"However, I insist, it will be a bad year because without Evenepoel or Roglic you can win a Giro of Italy because it was always a race you flirted with and it is really a pity that having that physical condition of aspiring to win a big one, the presence of these two stars possibly makes it difficult", Perico concluded.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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🤙🥈@JooAlmeida98 crosses the line safely in San Benedetto del Tronto to seal second place overall at @TirrenAdriatico 🇮🇹. #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE #TirrenoAdriatico
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