Remco Evenepoel has taken a lot of time on his rivals and has put himself in a strong position to fight for the victory at the Vuelta a Espana. Former teammate João Almeida has talked about the race leader, his feelings and relation with Juan Ayuso.
“For the moment, yes. I think that at the moment only Pogačar could follow him. In the last days, he’s been really strong. But there are still two weeks to go, and we don’t know how he will be," Almeida said in a press conference. "However, at the moment, he is going really well, and he is almost unbeatable". The two were teammates for the past few years, and the Portuguese has moved on to UAE Team Emirates where he's gotten a leadership role this year. At the Vuelta he isn't showing the same legs he did back in May at the Giro, however after the opening week he sits in seventh position in the overall classification.
Although coming in as team leader, the team's climbers have been given a free role to ride their race. Whilst Marc Soler has been chasing breakaways and stage wins - which he's achieved on stage 5 - Juan Ayuso has been given the freedom to ride for the GC. “Despite what everyone keeps saying about us in the media or whatever, we are teammates, we work together," Almeida said of his teammate, who currently sits ahead of him in fifth position. "We both have our opportunities and what I know I will share always with him. Whatever I can teach him I will, but I’m still young as well. He’s much younger than me, so that’s it".
After the Vuelta a Catalunya where Almeida lost his lead in a hilly stage where Juan Ayuso didn't provide support for the Portuguese, there have been many questions regarding the chemistry between the two. However Ayuso came forward to shrug off any tension: “We spent basically the last two and a half months together because we did an altitude training camp together and then we came here. So, the relationship is good. Of course, we both want to get the best result possible, but we’re a team".
“After spending so many days with him, you get to learn. I think one of the best things João has is that cycling is just a part of life and it’s not the end of the world if you have a bad day. That really helps me. If I have a bad day, I just don’t think about it anymore," Ayuso pointed out.
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