Almeida in line for Dauphiné return but Tour de France prospects hazy

João Almeida is set to return to competition at the rebranded Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in June, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG do not currently plan to add him to their roster for the Tour de France to ride in support of Tadej Pogačar.

Almeida was due to lead UAE at the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España this season, but he ruled himself out of the corsa rosa due to an illness that had laid him low during the spring. He hasn’t raced since he placed a subdued 38th overall at the Volta a Catalunya in March. 

Despite Almeida’s absence from the Giro, however, UAE sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez indicated that there had been no discussion about redirecting him the Tour. Almeida placed fourth overall on his Tour debut in 2024 and crashed out in the opening week last year. 

“For now, he’ll be racing the Dauphiné, and we’ll see how his form is, his condition, and his recovery,” Matxin told Domestique at the Giro. “For now, we’re focusing on the Dauphiné. We have a clear plan, and we’ll see how his condition progresses and, above all, how his recovery progresses.”

If Almeida returns to racing in time for the race formerly known as the Dauphiné, he will line out alongside Isaac del Toro, who is preparing to make his first appearance at the Tour de France. Pogačar will forgo the Dauphiné this year, preferring to warm up for the Tour with a debut outing at the Tour de Suisse. 

Matxin insisted that it was too soon to discuss Almeida’s race programme beyond the Dauphiné, noting that a decision on the rest of his schedule would only be taken after his return to compeition.

“For now, it’s just the Dauphiné, and then we’ll see how things go,” Matxin said. “We’ll see if we focus more on the Vuelta a España or on other stage races. Obviously, if we have any issues before the Tour, then it would be a possibility, but for now we have the team for the Tour in place – we have the planning for the Tour and the training for the Tour. We have a clear plan.”

UAE’s long list for Pogačar’s supporting cast at the Tour features Brandon McNulty, Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens, but it also includes two riders who crashed out of the Giro on the opening weekend.

Marc Soler seems unlikely to ride the Tour after suffering a broken pelvis in the mass crash on stage 2, and it remains to be seen if Adam Yates’ participation will be under threat after he sustained a concussion in the same mass crash.

“The riders’ situation has been complicated by many circumstances this season. We’ve had ten riders who’ve been injured this year on the WorldTour team and five on the Continental squad, so that has meant making a lot of changes,” Matxin said. 

“We have to plan ahead for every race, and we always have two reserves as well. We know that, well, a lot can happen, but on paper right now, João is only going to the Dauphiné.”