When they look back, he is always there, at most he makes the elastic. The problem for climbers is: what if he was still there in the Verona time trial?
When they look back, João Almeida is there. All time. In any case. Invariably. If the three strongest climbers of this Giro – in order of classification: Richard Carapaz, Jay Hindley, Mikel Landa – think they can escort the Portuguese to Verona, they risk not winning the Giro d’Italia. In the stage of the Mortirolo they join forces – those alliances that arise on the spot, dictated by necessity – thinking of detaching it. For a moment he seems to give up, but it’s just his usual tactic: in jargon it’s called making the elastic.