Of all the
UAE Team Emirates riders to impress, arguably did more than Joao Almeida. The Portuguese pulled a monster turn on the front up the final climb, destroying the GC. Once Yates attacked, Almeida was initially dropped but the former Giro d'Italia podium finisher proved his strength once again to regroup and pick his way past the likes of Enric Mas and Egan Bernal to finish the stage 2nd behind Yates. "With Joao at the end there, he was going super fast," Yates recalls, puffing out his cheeks at the memory. "We knew he was also in great shape. We came here as co-leaders and yeah, it's just been a great day for the team."
With Yates and Almeida one-two in the general classification, there seems to be no stopping UAE Team Emirates at the 2024 Tour de Suisse. "We now have options with two guys up there and we have a nice little cushion," Yates assesses. "Tomorrow is a short stage and if Mas and Bernal can be here in the final, they obviously have good shape as well. But we'll see. The team is looking strong, we're motivated and hopefully we can have more wins like this."