Joao Almeida rules himself out of the Tour de France and focuses on the Vuelta

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider has been back in training for several weeks after a difficult period in which his body was not responding as expected. 

Almeida had initially hoped to build towards the Giro, where he was expected to be one of the main contenders, but a series of abnormal blood values and a persistent lack of sharpness ultimately forced him to miss the race.

“I took a break to rest before the Giro and I have been training for about three or four weeks,” Almeida told O Jogo. “Training has been going more or less well and I have been feeling good. I have finally recovered, but I don’t know exactly what I had. In the tests, I had quite a few values that were altered, but we never really understood the main cause of those changes.”

His problems began after the Volta a Catalunya, where he finished only 38th. Almeida rested after the race before gradually returning to training, but the sensations remained below the level required for a Grand Tour campaign.

“Right after Catalunya, I had to rest to recover from the race and then I started training little by little,” he said. “I didn’t feel very bad, but I didn’t feel excellent. And then there is always that pressure of having to train, because I had the Giro. I still did an altitude camp, but my tests were not improving.”

After what he described as a long period in which he was neither properly training nor properly resting, Almeida realised there was little point in racing. Withdrawing from the Giro, he said, was therefore a natural decision.

“I was always realistic and I knew I wasn’t well, so there wasn’t much to do,” Almeida said. “Of course, after that I also had to deal with the team’s questions. I wasn’t prepared, I don’t think even for one stage. I really wasn’t going to do much there, so it was better to give another teammate the opportunity to be successful and try to get good results, which is what happened.”

Almeida is now preparing to return to competition at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the new name for the Critérium du Dauphiné. The race, which runs from Sunday until 14 June, will not be approached with the usual ambitions. Instead, Almeida sees it as a chance to test his body, help his teammates and regain rhythm in a demanding race environment.

“I don’t want to go there with the goal of getting any result, or fighting for the race,” he said. “I will try to help my teammates as much as I can, see how I feel, and try to train in the race. We know it is difficult, because it is a very demanding race, with a lot of climbs. It is a very hard route.”

His participation in the Dauphiné will not determine whether he lines up at the Tour de France, where UAE Team Emirates-XRG will be chasing a fifth victory for Tadej Pogačar. Almeida, who finished fourth in the 2024 Tour, believes the demands of the race leave little room for uncertainty.

“That possibility only depended on my development and on how I would react over time,” he said. “Personally, I feel I would not be prepared to do the Tour de France. There are many rough edges to smooth out to be at the level of a Tour, because it is a very demanding race.”

Whether he goes to the Tour as a contender or in support of a teammate, Almeida believes the race requires riders to be at their very best.

“Regardless of whether you go to get a result or to work, the Tour is a race where cyclists have to be in their best shape, because otherwise it is not possible to do much,” he said. “And clearly, I don’t think I will be able to be at that level. I think the best possibility for that would be to keep training and not compete in the Dauphiné.”

For that reason, Almeida is increasingly looking towards the second half of the season, despite the team facing injury concerns as it looks to complete Pogačar’s support squad. The Vuelta a España, where he finished second in 2025 behind Jonas Vingegaard, is now set to become his main Grand Tour objective.

“My calendar for the second part of the season, at least for now and from what I know, will stay exactly the same,” he said. “That will be San Sebastián, Burgos and the Vuelta a España. I don’t know whether I will do any extra race besides those. After that, obviously, I will also do the World Championships.”

Almeida’s account echoes what UAE sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernández told Domestiqueabout him during the Giro.

“For now, it’s just the Dauphiné, and then we’ll see how things go,” he 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.”

In order to reach his objectives, Almeida believes he needs a long block of training to prepare properly and arrive at the coming races with confidence.

“And to win, which is what I have got people used to,” he said. “Obviously, I know the rivals are very strong, but personally, a top three or a top five is no longer a result that leaves me satisfied and motivated after the race.”