João Almeida Interview – “We Want to Defeat Jonas Vingegaard and Win the Tour de France 2024”

João Almeida had an incredible 2023, the Portugese was in the Top 10 on the WorldTour end of season ranking as early on he had podium places in both Tirreno and Volta ao Catalunya. Further to this Almeida won one of the hardest stages at the 2023 Giro and even finished on the final gc podium but in 2024 his sights are on the Tour de France and trying to defeat Jonas Vingegaard.

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00:00 Intro
00:16 Start to 2024

02:12 Giro d’Italia 2022
04:13 Giro d’Italia 2023
07:05 How do you beat Visma Lease a Bike?
10:58 Olympics 2024?
12:58 Riding with Tadej Pogacar and Juan Ayuso
14:35 Joao Almeida’s 2024 Schedule
15:51 Training in Portugal and Andorra
17:05 Personal Targets for 2024
18:40 Don’t forget to subscribe

Hello everyone and welcome to another interview here on the secondy Dane Channel and today I’m joined by J Al MAA again first time since we spoken since you joined 8 memor and I mean o and how are you how’s 2024 training yeah hello everyone yeah it’s been uh it’s been

Nice uh yeah I had a r start of the season I was sick before alar so my preparation was not ideal so yeah I like my start to the part KN now and yeah I’m looking forward to start racing and see how I am I mean that was a bit annoying considering it

Is in Portugal and you are in Portugal so that would have been quite convenient yeah I mean uh it’s the home race alar and also the the race before fig it would be nice to race home you know it’s a different feeling I also starts the season Al Garvey is not such

A big race you know it’s nice to see how the level is a hard race good training uh but yeah uh I’m staring pares so it is what it is I mean since you moved to I was going to ask you this at some point but now I’m not put it

Like structurally right the Portuguese fans because I’ve they’re very passionate on the side of the road and obviously you’re Portuguese so how has that been from you because you’ve kind of elevated you’ve gone higher up in the sport now and we’ll touch on the jro etc

Etc but yeah the Portuguese fans how are they like as a Portuguese start how do how is it I mean they’re pretty good uh pretty rough sometimes but the support is pretty amazing uh in Portugal is is just crazy know I’ve done algar twice and it it’s

Crazy how much support the they give us to us Portuguese writers especially also in the races in Italy France whatever it is but yeah they are pretty rough sometimes as well but yeah just part of the game but I mean Jalia we’re not going to start with last

Year we’re going to start with 2022 because there you were in a very good position late on and yeah you were so close to the podium and yeah Schmid happened the annoying disease but um yeah what what was that jro like for you as a whole it was your first first jro

With your new team as well yeah exactly no uh new team new coach everything is new so was without the co I think until the coover was pretty good of course not perfect but I think sometimes he’s normal but also the other races I did they were pretty good so that’s a good

Thing about the the new cycling you know don’t really focus on just one race basically you need to be flying from January to October so yeah there’s a lot of races of course the main goal it’s it’s it’s tough to to be out of the game because

Of a disease or something but yeah could be worse and uh yeah but overall I was happy did you take a lot of confidence from that right as well obviously you’ve done you did well the year before and the year before as well but yeah was it

Kind of you felt like you leveled up in some way uh more or less I think in some ways yeah but also in some ways I wasn’t maybe as good as before but uh I took maybe some extra confidence uh on my bad days there was a few really

Bad days I had on that jur and I still could survive so I took the confidence from those days like if I was dead better than I could survive so yeah once I have good I think I I I could do something but uh but yeah yeah it is

What it is that we fast forward to last year I mean the jali once again and this time we finish on the podium uh first Portuguese Riders since 1979 and uh I mean how was that whole jur for you and specifically stage 16 as well when you just you attacked at the

Right moment yeah so last year J was pretty special was uh was slightly different I would say all the weather is always quite bad but it was horrible uh for the first real time I think I got sick and I had to be on antibiotics like almost the whole pan I would

Say uh so yeah guys crash in you know guys dnf so was was a rough Juro I think the there was not such a big show as before because we were quite limited but yeah I got my goal achiev the podium so I was pretty happy

But but yeah it’s not all about that so I want to keep going level up if I can and see what else I can do that actually did on stage 16 that almost cost the RO glitch his entire zero so that was yeah I was that day I was really good I was

Feeling great and uh yeah when I have really good days I know I can can smash it so yeah just before the last climb I just put in my hand like today is my day so I just gave everything ahead uh I was spending a lot of energy

Which in the end I almost lost to to G but uh but he was really strong as well so was uh I think we did a good pulls in the end with the stage we tried to to gain some time to to Primos so yeah in the end I was just a

Little bit more exposive but I finally got my stage rain so yeah it was is a good day I I always remember and well you saying that you kind of you don’t want to stop here is it like your mindset now you want to try and win the

Jro obviously you’re not going to the jro this year but is that a race that you feel like you could win in the future I mean I don’t know but I feel like I still I can be stronger than what I was last season so I feel like I can

Be better than that if that means more wins or winning races I don’t know but I think we will find out it’s uh yeah the new cying is quite tough It’s been always tough but everybody is really strong so it’s hard to do difference I would say I mean yma

They won every single ground tour uh last year but I mean you guys won the UCI ranking yourself in top 10 as well so how do you kind of beat Y marisma in terms of a grand tour is that why kind of your tour France Squad is you

Juuzo and T of gatchet yeah I think so you know the team yeah the last two two editions we were second which is a great result but uh we want to rain it so that’s why we’re bringing such a good team and uh yeah of course we’re gonna

Go all in for it and with a strong team I mean M Adam you know it’s yeah Adam was off pretty crazy but yeah we need to be the strongest guy so far that could beat today of course if you check it wasn’t really even you know today

Was he had the crash he broke the the hand and everything so his preparation was not great at all so I think in normal conditions I think that they should be the strongest one but you know the other guys also evolve and get better so yeah I think

Yeah we need the as much as we can need to do as much as we can to bring the victory what’s the well obviously you’re not going to tell me the game plan in in case you want to SP is watching but uh is it just you’re

Going to break isolate him and then attack him kind of what yman did to T back in 2022 I mean I don’t really know but it’s one option you know there’s so many options on the table but it’s not that easy I would say if you put uh SE

Pulling and how many guys can keep the wheel for 20 minutes you know I don’t think we you know Five Guys on the wheel with vingard looks too good to be true you know so it’s not that easy but yeah I mean as the strongest we

Are the easiest should be to to take it as a team to support whoever is the strongest normally today to support him to yeah to do what he wants you know I don’t really know the plan no idea I mean it’s well that to of France is also

Well special for you because it’s your first first tour so that that has to be a special moment for any looking forward to to the tour finally it’s been a lot of duros and rs so yeah finally to to finally do the tour very happy to finally do the tour

And yeah let’s let’s do it I mean have you looked at the to front rout in terms of like the alternative finish now finishing in East obviously you’ve done Paris East before and then also like the gravel stage as well I mean I have not looked too much into

It uh but I kind of like the finishing in this I never did the the finish in the the shampo it but I it sounds good finish in this you know with the town sh and everything so yeah I kind of like it to be honest

People say that the the shamp this stage is the hardest one so the easy yeah I mean it it’s a nice change though having a time trial to the tour so it goes back to like great to the Olympics so yeah exactly I think it’s pretty nice also I

Mean is the Olympic something you’re looking towards as well uh not really uh I don’t think the the parkour is the for me and also have so many races well I want to do T RTA so I don’t think the Olympics are yeah in the best date

Possible for me I cannot do everything so if I go which would be really nice to go you know it’s Olympics it’s I would go very happy but I I don’t feel like I could prepare it 100% as well so I already give the opportunity to other

Guy that can maybe do better than me and prepared so yeah I don’t really need to do it I mean you were touching on it earlier that we’re kind of it’s a new era of cycling that you kind of have to be Peak every single race almost from

February to October how do you kind of manage yourself because your season would have started now and then finishing in the Welter so that that’s that’s a huge season yeah that means a lot of rest not overdue because if you overdo once then you always go down like a snowball so

You need to manage a lot the fatigue and just the recovery everything otherwise yeah it will be a long Seas I mean that well to espania that’s got to be some special grto for you starting in Portugal yeah that’s one of the reasons I’m doing it I think

Otherwise I I would rather rest after the tour and just uh yeah plan another races but because starts in World also the team wants me to do it so it’s pretty special to have grter selling in your country so it’s pretty unique I think I we take the chance even if it’s

Not the best preparation you know it’s it’s going to be a nice race so I mean last time we spoke you were saying how you were looking forward to like learning a lot from the writers you were part of because you were coming from quickstep where it was promly well rco

And then a classic Sprinter team but now you’re like truly in a GC team has it kind of have you developed a lot as a writer as well just being around AO tacha etc etc yeah of course uh I think uh I might have learned more with quickstep because

I was I was new I was uh I had everything to learn still so of course I had my bases there but moving here I learned a lot as well uh of course with the Riders and the the stuff we have nutrition training everything you know

Know so yeah I think yeah it’s been really nice also with AO today you know they’re also still pretty young especially auu and we can always learn yeah I can learn with them and they can learn with me so yeah it’s a it’s a pleasure to to share the team

With you guys these Young Guns it’s uh they’re pretty strong so and more guys still not just these two but the whole team is really nice strong guys nice people so it’s an honor to to make part of it yeah right in terms of um this

Year you’re also doing Amel flesh Le I mean you’re quite uh what would you say experienced now at doing grand Tours how does that writing differ in terms of like a one day setting towards like a grand tour setting I mean I think nowadays if you prepare yourself and

You’re good you can be strong at everything you do I mean of course if you talk about gr tourist it’s different you know it’s not just being strong and good Rider but uh I think as a grant to Rider if you prepare yourself and you’re strong sure you can do the

Classics and be in a good level so yeah the classics are also pretty pretty hard so I think it’s also good preparation for GR tur you know you do big days so yeah I think it’s it’s also pretty good and I also want to to change a little bit do something different not

Always the same races and the same type uh yeah trying to be a little bit more volatile but yeah I like my program it’s looking very good uh I just wish I just hope I have the legs um yeah I mean Portugal it must be

A great place to train as well you it’s like with we see so many riders moving to Spain or moving to Monaco or Switzerland for many of the Danish Riders now but Portugal seems yeah good terrain as well yeah I think it’s pretty similar to Spain I would say

Uh but yeah I I I spend most of my winter there in Portugal the weather is normally is pretty good even if it rains it’s not super cold so it’s it’s okay for training yeah but once the the year start start and the season starts I’m

Always in Andor is where I live the rest of the year we have big mountains here to climb so yeah then once the weather starts to be better Andor is it’s a really good place to train you have the volley you know Belly Up traffic as

Well I really like it here I feel like it’s almost like Portugal you know a lot of Portuguese people as well so yeah I like it here a lot of cyclist as well you know guys I know so it’s good to to have a second home I say not too

Far from Portugal as well yeah it’s not too far not too close not too far which is good so what like what would be your main goal finishing up in terms of 2024 obviously doing well at the well to if the legs are there but uh in terms of a

Tor of France goal is it my goal is a second and it’s just about getting T in the yellow Jersey I mean I’m I I’ll go with the team goals you know I just want to arrive there with good legs you know good preparation feeling good feel feeling

Healthy and ju then just do my the best I can do you know always uh go into the team the team plan the team goal uh yeah in my opinion for sure I think that I should be the strongest Rider so I don’t think there will be any

Thoughts about what to do of course we can play the the team game you know playing different tactics but I think in the end of the day the strongest guy always wins so we can play a little bit but I I I will be very happy to support

Him in the hardest climbs and be there as one of the last guys so yeah but we’ll see just see how it goes you know if you do the homework you don’t need to stress about anything I mean that team literally is like someone’s playing pro cycl manager

And just put all the superstars in the same team but um yeah thanks very much for your time jaha as always and uh best of luck with the 2024 season thank you