Confirmed: Almeida ruled out Giro clash with Vingegaard due to viral infection

João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has confirmed that he will miss the Giro d'italia due to the effects of a viral infection that he suffered following the Volta ao Algarve in February.

After starting his season with a solid 2nd place at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana behind Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Almeida headed to Portugal for the Volta ao Algarve. The Portuguese rider finished 3rd on home soil behind former teammate Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM).

From here, Almeida was set to tackle Paris-Nice, where he would face Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), a precursor to the Giro in May. However, Almeida announced shortly before the race that he would not take to the start, stating, “A few days after Algarve I got sick with flu symptoms and I wasn’t able to complete a training session until four days before the start of the race.”

A return to action came at the Volta a Catalunya in March, but Almeida didn’t feature in the GC picture, finishing 38th overall and 21:43 behind race winner Vingegaard, in a week where he also suffered a crash on the penultimate stage. Since then, all attention has turned to focusing on the final Giro preparations. 

Portuguese media reported that Almeida had suffered setbacks in his recovery, which have forced him to require rest and thus limit his training for the Giro significantly, and Almeida confirmed this on Monday morning.

“Unfortunately I won’t be at the start of the Giro D’Italia next month as planned. Sickness in the past months has affected my preparations too much and has meant I just won’t quite be ready in time which is a shame as it’s a race I love so much,” said Almeida.

“After talking it through with the team we decided it was best to take a rest period and switch focus to new goals later in the season.”

Almeida was expected to lead a UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad at the Giro that was set to include riders including Adam Yates and Jay Vine. Following victory at O Gran Camiño, Yates may step into the leadership role if the reports about Almeida's absence come to fruition. 

“We haven’t set out those new goals yet but that will be done calmly in the next few weeks… For now it’s time to first rest-up a bit and build things back up slowly,” said Almeida. “Best of luck to the guys for the Giro, I will be cheering from home.”

The Giro d’Italia kicks off in Bulgaria on May 8, with Jonas Vingegaard headlining the battle for the maglia rosa on his debut at the Italian Grand Tour.