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Wilco Kelderman only lasted one day in the lead, as Ineos “melted” the Dutchman. João Almeida had an excellent team that launched him to fourth place in Sestriere and a possible climb in the general
This Sunday, at 3 p.m., João Almeida will start the 15.7 kilometers of the Milan time trial with the best result in the history of a Portuguese in the Volta a Itália and the second best in a Grande Volta, after the podiums of Joaquim Agostinho.
The young man from Deceuninck-Quick Step has all the conditions to climb to fourth place, occupied by the Spanish Pello Bilbao by a difference of 23 seconds. Third place is 1’42 and it will be very difficult to reach, although yesterday’s failure of Wilco Kelderman, which left the Giro boiling, does not completely rule out that possibility.
The Tour of Italy, which had a last mountain stage accelerated by Ineos, will end in an unprecedented way. Australian Jai Hindley was second at Sestriere and inherited his colleague Kelderman’s pink jersey, but tied in time with Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart. João Almeida, mindful of the Sunwebs attrition, benefited from the Deceuninck-Quick Step tactic, which had put several runners on the run.
“We showed why we are” Alcateia “. The plan was to try to win the stage with the breakaway, to have people ready to help João in a demanding final. Almeida once again proved to be an incredible fighter and gained time on the climb that can be vital in Milan “, analyzed Klaas Lodewyck, coach of the Belgian team, who in the last of the three climbs of the day saw the Portuguese, after being helped by his teammates, leave alone in the pursuit of Hindley, Hart and the” locomotive “of both, an incredible Rohan Dennis. .
The Portuguese also won 34 seconds to an exhausted Kelderman – and Bilbao, who did not do better -, increasing the enthusiasm for the final time, which is expected to be the best among the current top five.
Only earn 2 seconds per kilometer
In the first two times of the Giro (15.1 km in Palermo and 34.1 km in Valdobbiadene), João Almeida was the best among the forwards, with marked differences. In the shortest, Bilbao gained 2.4 seconds / km (37 s in total) and, in the second, 2.1 s / km (1m12s), enough to climb to fourth place. As for Kelderman, he took 1m02 in the first and only 16 in the long.
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