João Almeida (Emirates UAE) admitted this Saturday that third place in the first time trial of the 106th Tour of Italy by bike was “slightly” better than he expected, feeling he was in a “very good” position overall.
“I know my abilities but was a little surprised by the timing I made. This confirms the good work that the team has done, we are very pleased,” said the Portuguese cyclist, finishing third in the first stage of the race. ‘corsa rosa’, 29 seconds behind the winner, Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).
Almeida, 24, who finished fourth at the 2020 Giro and sixth in 2021, admitted that third place was “slightly” better than expected when he set off for the 19.6km time trial between Fossacesia and Ortona, showing that he already believed that the current background world champion – and his former teammate – would win on Saturday.
“I already expected him to win, but it was by a very large margin. It was even better than I expected. Congratulations to him. He clearly deserves it,” said Italian specialist Filippo Ganna after Evenepul left second place. (INEOS), 22 seconds.
Almeida was pleased to start the corsa rosa “on the right foot” after being forced to pull out last year after stage 17, when he was fourth overall, due to covid- 19.
“[É importante] start well and let the race unfold. I think we are in a very good position.”
The Portuguese will head to the second stage of the Tour of Italy, a 201km virtually flat stretch between Teramo and San Salvo, 29 seconds from the 23-year-old Belgian who will “loan” him the youth jersey during the suspension, a classification in which Almeida is second.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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