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The Portuguese was a hero on the climb to Piancavallo, he held the rose and may have secured his place on the podium of the Volta a Itália, as he saved Bilbao and Nibali time.
João Almeida was fourth in the most difficult mountain stage so far of the Volta a Itália, he occupied the pink jersey for the thirteenth consecutive day and could have secured a place on the podium in the stage won by Ineos Tao Geoghegan Hart, followed by Wilco . Kelderman, Sunweb.
In his biggest test since wearing pink, on the climb to Etna, João Almeida was the one who resisted the pace imposed by Sunweb on the climb to Piancavallo, but had to give way to an acceleration of 7.3 km from the top.
The Portuguese remained 100 meters from the trio formed by Wilco Kelderman, Jai Hindley and Tao Geoghegan Hart, the latter from Ineos. Further back they followed Vincenzo Nibali (Trek), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain) and Patrick Konrad (Bora), who were quickly delayed on the 14.1 km uphill. Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates), who was fourth, relented even earlier.
The stage, which had started with the rhythm dictated by a getaway in which Giovanni Visconti took off the mountain leader jersey from Rúben Guerreiro, only really began to be decided in the fourth and last of the 185 km ascent between Air Base Rivolto and Piancavallo. .
In the last kilometers of the ascent, Almeida kept a gap of 30 seconds for Kelderman, Hindley and Hart, enough to keep the pink jersey, leader of the individual general classification, with 15s of advantage over Kelderman.
The Portuguese finished 37 seconds behind Hart, losing 35 seconds to Kelderman and 33 seconds to Hindley, while Rafal Majka was fifth, 1 minute 22 behind the winner.
Overall, Almeida was 15 seconds ahead of the Dutchman and 2m56s behind Hindley, who moved up to third overall.
Hart is now fourth overall, 2m57s, and Pello Bilbao fifth, 3m10s. The sixth is Rafal Majka, at 3m18s, and the seventh Vincenzo Nibali, at 3m29s.
CLASSIFICATION
15th stage: Rivolto-Piancavallo Air Base (185 km)
1st Tao Geoghegan Hart (Grenadiers of Ineos), 4h58m52s
2nd Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), a 02
3rd Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb), a 04
4th João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep), at 37
5th Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 1:22
6th Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 1:29
7th James Knox (Deceuninck-Quickstep), at 1:36
8th Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren), mt
9th Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team), mt
10th Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), mt
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL
1st João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep), 59h27m38s
2nd Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), a 15
3rd Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb), at 2:56
4th Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), at 2:57
5th Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren), at 3:10
6th Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 3:18
7th Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), at 3:29
8th Domenico Pozzovivo (NTT Pro Cycling), at 3:50
9th Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 4:09
10th Deceuninck-QuickStep, at 4:12
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