


Almeida retains podium place at UAE Tour
Tuesday 23 February 2021 - 14:57The Portuguese continued to impress at the first World Tour race of the season.
For the third consecutive year, Jebel Hafeet featured at Middle East’s only World Tour race and it again delivered, creating significant gaps between the GC men. Best placed Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider in the standings following Monday’s flat individual time trial, João Almeida lived up to the expectations and superbly defended his place on the podium, measuring his effort perfectly and showing the same never-say-die attitude that he put on display countless times at last year’s Giro d’Italia.
João fought against a blitz of attacks that came with five kilometers to go on the tough 10.8km ascent and led the chase behind the front duo, eventually managing to limit the damage on the brutal gradients that inflicted many losses and a lot of pain to the UAE Tour riders. Despite losing contact with the leaders, from where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) took the victory, the 22-year-old from Caldas da Rainha continued undeterred, marching through the searing temperatures and coming over the line in sixth place.
It was enough for Almeida to remain in the top 3 overall, with a comfortable margin over his closest rival as the race returns on the flat for stage 4. At the same time, he remained in possession of the black jersey, which rewards the leader of the intermediate sprints classification, while Deceuninck – Quick-Step continues to be the only team with three riders in the top 10, where João is joined by Mattia Cattaneo and Fausto Masnada.
“Today was very warm and that made things harder, but I was lucky to have a great team around me, who protected me throughout the day, for which I am grateful. The fight began quite early on the climb and I gave my best, but others were stronger. I ended up conceding more than 40 seconds, but I still managed to be at a solid level, so things are looking good for the next days”, Almeida explained.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE-Team Emirates |
3:58:35 |
2 |
Adam Yates INEOS Grenadiers |
0:00 |
3 |
Sergio Higuita García EF Education - Nippo |
0:48 |
4 |
Emanuel Buchmann BORA - hansgrohe |
0:48 |
5 |
Harm Vanhoucke Lotto Soudal |
0:48 |
6 |
João Almeida
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
0:48 |
7 |
Florian Stork Team DSM |
0:54 |
8 |
Neilson Powless EF Education - Nippo |
0:54 |
9 |
Chris Harper Team Jumbo-Visma |
1:00 |
10 |
Geoffrey Bouchard AG2R Citroën Team |
1:09 |
24 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
2:11 |
36 |
Fausto Masnada
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
3:42 |
72 |
Iljo Keisse
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
14:04 |
73 |
Michael Mørkøv Christensen
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
14:04 |
103 |
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
16:05 |
118 |
Shane Archbold
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
16:05 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE-Team Emirates |
7:58:30 |
2 |
Adam Yates INEOS Grenadiers |
0:43 |
3 |
João Almeida
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
1:03 |
4 |
Chris Harper Team Jumbo-Visma |
1:43 |
5 |
Neilson Powless EF Education - Nippo |
1:45 |
6 |
Mattias Skjelmose Jensen Trek - Segafredo |
2:36 |
7 |
Damiano Caruso Bahrain - Victorious |
2:38 |
8 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
2:39 |
9 |
Rubén Fernández Andújar Cofidis, Solutions Crédits |
3:32 |
10 |
Fausto Masnada
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
4:47 |
46 |
Michael Mørkøv Christensen
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
15:00 |
57 |
Shane Archbold
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
17:19 |
83 |
Iljo Keisse
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
23:40 |
110 |
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
26:06 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE-Team Emirates |
39 pt |
2 |
João Almeida
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
28 pt |
3 |
Filippo Ganna INEOS Grenadiers |
21 pt |
4 |
Michael Mørkøv Christensen
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
18 pt |
5 |
Tony Gallopin AG2R Citroën Team |
16 pt |
6 |
Adam Yates INEOS Grenadiers |
16 pt |
7 |
David Dekker Team Jumbo-Visma |
16 pt |
8 |
Stefan Bissegger EF Education - Nippo |
16 pt |
9 |
Sergio Higuita García EF Education - Nippo |
12 pt |
10 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE-Team Emirates |
12 pt |
17 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
6 pt |
27 |
Fausto Masnada
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
1 pt |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE-Team Emirates |
7:58:30 |
2 |
João Almeida
Deceuninck - Quick Step |
1:03 |
3 |
Neilson Powless EF Education - Nippo |
1:45 |
4 |
Mattias Skjelmose Jensen Trek - Segafredo |
2:36 |
5 |
Sergio Higuita García EF Education - Nippo |
9:49 |
6 |
Harm Vanhoucke Lotto Soudal |
10:10 |
7 |
Florian Stork Team DSM |
10:21 |
8 |
Stefan de Bod Astana - Premier Tech |
12:19 |
9 |
Mikkel Bjerg UAE-Team Emirates |
12:40 |
10 |
Samuele Battistella Astana - Premier Tech |
12:47 |
1 | UAE-Team Emirates | 24:00:14 |
2 | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 3:49 |
3 | Team Jumbo-Visma | 12:42 |
4 | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 12:59 |
5 | Trek - Segafredo | 16:50 |
6 | EF Education - Nippo | 17:47 |
7 | Bahrain - Victorious | 20:25 |
8 | INEOS Grenadiers | 25:04 |
9 | Astana - Premier Tech | 30:06 |
10 | Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux | 31:09 |
Top results
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE-Team Emirates |
3:58:35 |
2 |
Adam Yates INEOS Grenadiers |
0:00 |
3 |
Sergio Higuita García EF Education - Nippo |
0:48 |
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