At the Spanish vuelta, co-captain Joao Almeida is to be sentenced to the successful team UAE Emirates in the absence of Tadej Pogacar. But after the demonstration of power on the ninth stage of Rival Jonas Vingegaard, there is criticism of the Portuguese.
Joao Almeida suffered a setback in the fight for overall victory at this year’s Vuelta on Sunday on the ninth stage.
With 24 seconds behind he came to cycling superstar Jonas Vingegaard after the 195.5 kilometers over the finish line. While the Dane let the muscles play on the mountains and reduced the gap to the Norwegian Torstein Traeen to 37 seconds, Almeida is now missing 1:15 minutes in the overall ranking.
In the absence of Tadej Pogacar as one of the co-captains with great ambitions, launched in the Spain loop, a clear increase must be found on Monday on Monday, as the triumph in Madrid should still work. But he has to change something in his attitude, says the former cycling professional and official José de Cauwer.
Today’s TV expert criticized “Sporza” after the ninth stage: “For me, Joao Almeida does not behave like a leader. You always have to be near Vingegaard.”
Almeida has to recognize: Vingegaard “flew”
At UAE Team Emirates, the lack of Pogacar is clearly noticeable. “At the moment you really can’t speak of a collective at UAE,” said the 74-year-old. Nevertheless, he does not yet want to write off Almeida: “It is only the first day of rest, there is still a lot. The only question is what Vingegaard can do if he can pull away here so far.”
De Cauer praised Visma | Lease A Bike as the team “With the best control”, Vingegaard is “the best driver” in the field.
Jonas Vingegaard had attacked eleven kilometers before the finish line in the solo. “I felt totally great,” said the tour second. After the race at “Eurosport”, Joao Almeida emphasized that he also lacked the support of his teammates. “Nobody was with me anymore. We were poorly positioned.” He “couldn’t follow Vingegaard after the attack,” said Almeida: “I felt good, but he flew.”