OFFICIAL | No Tour de France for João Almeida; Giro-Vuelta on the schedule and 2026 calendar revealed

The 2026 season is soon to start and the Grand Tour startlists begin to take further form. João Almeida is returning to the Giro d'Italia in 2026 and will not be racing the Tour de France alongside Tadej Pogacar.

The Portuguese rider was the first to take the stage during UAE Team Emirates - XRG's media day in Benidorm, and was quickly asked about his schedule for the upcoming season. The answer was short and direct, revealing the full plan for his 2026 season.

Almeida will begin his season at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, where the team is currently training ahead of the season. He is returning to his home country in late February to race the Volta ao Algarve, where he was close to winning the overall classification this year - only beaten by Jonas Vingegaard. This also happened at the Vuelta a España, where he is going to be present as well.

The climber is going to have a heavy schedule once again, racing Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya in March before taking the month of April off of racing in order to prepare for the Giro d'Italia. The news come as a surprise, as it was widely expected that Isaac del Toro would have the leadership at the upcoming Corsa Rosa.

Almeida will then skip the Tour de France. He will race the national championships and then the Vuelta a Burgos before the Vuelta a Espãna where he will once again pursuit a Grand Tour victory.

More will be known shortly about the schedules of Isaac del Toro and Tadej Pogacar, who might end up teaming up often in 2026. Almeida has previously finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, and could replicate these. At the Giro, he is likely to face Jonas Vingegaard, as well as the likes of Felix Gall, Enric Mas and Jai Hindley who have confirmed their intentions already.