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Portuguese cyclist João Almeida, leader of the Volta a Itália, today showed his ambition to be the leader of his team, Deceuninck-QuickStep, but admitted to assuming the role of gregarious in the future.
At a press conference held through a digital platform, the 22-year-old, who returned to number one in the team in the ‘corsa rosa’ due to the absence of Belgian Remco Evenepoel due to injury, recalled that “in a normal season” he runs He returns to Spain and not to the Giro, but he has not ruled out any scenario.
“In the future, I don’t know. I’m only here for the falls [de alguns companheiros de equipa], I can also help. Of course [que tenho a ambição de ser o chefe de fila]I’m new, I have a lot to learn, but if I have legs I can be number one. But I don’t think it has to be that way, “said the young man from Caldas da Rainha.
The cyclist also denied the comparisons with the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who surprised this year by winning the Tour de France, at the same age as João Almeida, pointing out that “they are different things”, despite being both very young, and that the The type of work that the United Arab Emirates rider had to do to win the race was different.
“He only won the shirt on the penultimate day, against the clock. So it was not necessary to have a team working to defend the shirt. [amarela], because I didn’t have it. Here is different, we have the shirt [rosa] defend every day from kilometer zero. He was the one who needed to attack, not defend, and you don’t have to have a team as strong to attack as to defend. It’s harder like this [com a camisola de líder há vários dias], but it’s just my opinion, “he said.
The quality of the new generation of cyclists, under 25 years of age, who have achieved excellent results in the great WorldTour competitions also deserved the attention of João Almeida, who was not surprised by these performances.
“They are all very professional in training, in food, in nutrition and I think that makes a difference,” analyzed the Portuguese who has led the Tour of Italy since the second stage.
On a personal level, João Almeida admitted that the presence of his parents on Italian roads, where they have been supporting him for the past week, is “always special”, although “he cannot be with them, because of the covid-19”, and He assumed that his performance in the race will contribute to the growth of cycling in Portugal.
“There has never been so much talk about cycling in Portugal, on television and everywhere. With what I and [Ruben] We are a warrior, things will change and the future will be better ”, he assumed.
Ruben Guerreiro (Education First), the other Portuguese cyclist in the competition, won the ninth stage of the Giro2020 and wore that day, October 11, the blue jersey of the mountain prize, which he lost on Sunday to the Italian Giovanni Visconti (Vini Zabù -KTM).
João Almeida leads the Volta a Itália on the second rest day of the competition, after 15 stages, with a 15-second lead for the Dutch Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb).
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