Joao Almeida is not at his very best form at the start of the Vuelta, but the Portuguese rider believes he is ready to compete for the top positions. In the press conference ahead of the Vuelta, he said, among other things: "I’ve only been able to train without restrictions for two weeks, but I still think I’m in fairly good shape."
Almeida left the Tour de France last month with a broken rib, after which the switch to focus on the Vuelta was quickly made. "Before the Tour, I was much more optimistic because my preparation was better without crashes. Now I’m optimistic too, but we have to stay realistic. I’ve trained two weeks without pain, that’s not much. We’ll see how it all plays out."
"But still, I feel in acceptable form," he told A Bola. "I feel good on the bike and I hope it gets better week after week. I will have to conserve energy as much as possible, but I’m going to fight without fear. Maybe I’m only at 90 percent now, but I have three weeks to reach 100 percent."
Whether he can beat major rival Jonas Vingegaard remains to be seen. "Visma has a very strong team for all terrains, but on the other hand: they will make it a tough race. That actually plays into my hands. And of course we also have a great team."
Almeida is also referring to co-leader Juan Ayuso alongside him. "Maybe there was friction in the past, but that’s resolved. With two cards to play we can tire out our opponents, and that’s a big advantage. I’m definitely looking forward to it, the Vuelta is always a fun Grand Tour."
