Almeida saw sparring partner Tiberi behind escaped Evenepoel: "We could have caught him back"
Remco Evenepoel soloed to victory and took the leader’s jersey on Saturday in the Tour of Valencia. Behind him, a group formed including João Almeida and Antonio Tiberi. Almeida acknowledged that Evenepoel was the strongest, but also mentioned that Tiberi didn’t fully commit during the chase.
"It was a fast and fairly tough day. I gave it my best, but Remco was simply stronger," Almeida honestly told Eurosport after the stage. "If the climbs had been a bit longer, it might have suited me better. But the course is what it is. I did my best and I think I performed quite well. As a team, I think we did well too."
Did Almeida still hope, in the final kilometers, that he and the other chasers could catch Evenepoel? "Not everyone was pulling in our group. I think we could have caught him if we had gone all out. Antonio (Tiberi, ed.) was also looking around to save his legs a bit. But yeah, that’s racing."
Tiberi: "We tried to catch Remco again"
Tiberi also appeared on Eurosport's camera. "Red Bull was pushing hard at the front on Cumbre del Sol. It was clear Remco wanted to launch an attack," said the Italian, who saw it coming. Evenepoel did indeed attack, and Tiberi was initially the only one able to follow. "I was on his wheel. For the first two or three hundred meters I stayed with him, but he kept pushing. I had to let go a bit. Behind me, I also saw gaps, so I kept going, but the small group came back."
"We worked together with Almeida and McNulty among others. We tried to catch Remco again, but he was riding very fast," said the Bahrain team leader. "At one point, he was maybe ten seconds ahead of us. I spoke with Almeida and we encouraged each other to reel him back in. But then he extended his lead again."
