Almeida secures second place at Vuelta despite illness in final week

"I was on the limit already for the whole stage. But we had to try, we had nothing to lose," Almeida told Eurosport after the gruelling final mountain stage to Bola del Mundo.

The UAE Team Emirates rider revealed in the post-stage interview his team's aggressive strategy for the final day with the final opportunity de-throne Jonas Vingegaard from his red jersey.

The strategy which they enrolled on was to make the stage as difficult as possible for race leader Jonas Vingegaard, hoping to exploit any weakness, which ultimately they failed with as Vingegaard launched off to a solo victory.

"The idea was to do as fast as we could the stage, as hard," explained Almeida. "Unfortunately, I've been sick this week, so the feeling was not the best one, but we still tried."

Despite falling short of the top step, Almeida showed remarkable sportsmanship. He congratulated his rival, Jonas Vingegaard, while expressing some satisfaction with his own performance on stage 20.

"No regrets. We did what we could," Almeida stated. "Congrats to Jonas, he was super strong. I think it's not too bad being behind him."

Finishing 2nd in the general classification 1:16 behind Vingegaard, is Almeida's best ever grand tour result with the Portuguese's previous best a 4th in the 2024 Tour de France. Along with his 2nd in the general classification Almeida's can be proud of his performance taking the stage atop of the mythical Angliru, out powering Vingegaard to the finish line.  

Almeida will look to use the solid foundations he has laid, with numerous WorldTour victories in 2025, to go on and push for a grand tour victory in 2026 and with a team that is fully committed in the goal of victory for him.