OPINION | Will UAE Team Emirates - XRG live to regret this controversial Giro d'Italia decision?

We are entering the week of Giro d'Italia 2025! The race will begin this Friday, May 9, and with it the 2025 grand tour season, and it will do so with an edition that is expected to be very exciting. With no Pogacar, Vingegaard or Evenepoel in the star line-up, the fight for the maglia rosa will be very close.

The main candidate for victory is the 2023 winner, Primoz Roglic. But the Slovenian will not have it all his own way, due to the long list of candidates for the general classification. Above all, it seems that the toughest will be Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates, co-leaders of the UAE Team Emirates XRG lineup for the race.

However, the latter has sparked controversy, largely due to João Almeida's form. Have UAE made a mistake in leaving the Portuguese out of a race that, historically, he has always been so good at?

One gets the feeling that the Emirati team may already be regretting the decision they have made. With Almeida, the overall victory in the Giro d'Italia would have been much easier than with Ayuso and Yates. Here are the reasons why.

There is no doubt that Joao Almeida is in the best moment of his career. The Portuguese rider has become one of the peloton's top sprinters. He comes from stringing together two consecutive victories in his last WorldTour stage races: Itzulia Basque Country and Tour de Romandie.

In addition, in his first races of 2025, he was: 2nd in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, 2nd in the Volta ao Algarve and 6th in Paris-Nice, with a stage victory beating Jonas Vingegaard.

To make matters worse, taking a look at his previous results in the Giro d'Italia, when he was not so consolidated, further magnify UAE's mistake. The Portuguese rider has participated 4 times in the Corsa Rosa, with the following results:

Other than Ayuso, there is no doubt that Joao Almeida would have been the toughest rival, not counting Pogacar, that UAE could have selected for this Giro d'Italia to beat Primoz Roglic. The worst thing is that they are not even going to take advantage of him for the other grand tours.

At the Tour de France, Almeida will ride as Tadej Pogacar's main supporter in his fight against Jonas Vingegaard and Visma. In the Vuelta a España, the Slovenian is also expected to be in the race. So UAE would end the 2025 season missing the best moment of the Portuguese rider's career to go win a grand tour.

Is it time for Almeida to take his talents elsewhere? Let us know below.