"Today will be a surviving stage" - João Almeida fears rain and strong breakaway on tricky Paris-Nice stage
Cycling
João Almeida began his season late at Paris-Nice, but has deal with the tough conditions quite well so far. The UAE Team Emirates rider is currently a contender for the podium or even more, but today's explosive stage can be a difficult one.
"Today will be a surviving stage I would say. Conditions will be quite bad, it's all about surviving," Almeida shared with CyclingPro.net this morning. "It depends on the breakaway of course, I'm not planning anything but yeah we need to be careful we have to see if the breakaway goes or not. We have a hard stage for sure."
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Stage 6 will be a hilly day into La-Colle-sur-Loup, the finale features a steep ascent that sees the gradients reach 19% and some rolling terrain afterwards. Combining this with some rough weather conditions and it could be a deadly day for some GC contenders. "I don't like the rain at all, I think no-one likes it but we have to deal with it so it is what it is," he says of it.
Almeida sits 4th in the GC at the start of the day; 29 seconds behind race leader Luke Plapp, 2 behind teammate Brandon McNulty and 1 ahead of Remco Evenepoel. "Brandon is looking very good so of course we're trying to go both for a good result," he says when asked if he "remains" (as hinted by McNulty some days ago) the sole leader of the team. "... Things are looking good so fingers crossed for tomorrow."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
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🚌👋 Bonjour #ParisNice. #WeAreUAE
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