First and second for four days in a row at Tour de Suisse: the domain of the UAE Team Emirates in this case too it was overwhelming. To think that Adam Yates and Joao Almeida now they will go to the Tour as Pogacar's gregarious he makes it clear with How determined the Emirati team is to overturn the results of the last two years. The Vingegaard incident It risks upsetting the forecasts and the balance, in any case the consistency of the team is rather impressive.
The final challenge saw the two teammates warming up next to each other on the rollers in the starting area. Not even a frown, but rather the inner conviction of making the most of the day.And the best part was for Almeida, who won the time trial with aggressive management of the race. Yates adopted a conservative tactic, knowing that unless he collapsed, the margin would be enough to take home the yellow jersey. When Almeida got off the rollers to go to the start, the two shook hands and then the challenge began.It was 16,19pm: after 33 minutes 23 seconds and 870 thousandths, the Portuguese won the last test. Eight seconds behind, the Briton lifted the final trophy.
Excellent, on the sidelines, the tests of Skjelmose, Riccitello, Pidcock and Lenny Martinez, but against those two the game was unplayable.
The Almeida ending
Like everyone else, Almeida also started on a time trial bike and then switched to a Colnago climbing bike. A necessary change, given that the final stage towards Villard sur Ollons was a mountain stageAnd while many have persisted in a relationship that is too long, Almeida's final two kilometers saw him push with the smaller chainring, picking up speed with the cadenceCuriosity in the triumph, despite being a great time trialist and having done excellent tests previously, Almeida had never won a WorldTour time trial.
«I'm really happy with the victory – he says – I think it was my first time trial victory, excluding national championships, so it's very good. I knew from the start that it would be practically impossible to win the general classification against Adam. He is quite strong and is a fighter. So I'm also super happy with second place behind him.
“We’ll never know what would have happened if I hadn’t had to work for him. It was a fantastic week, with perfect teamwork.It could have been an opportunity for me too, but we told ourselves we would be fair and in the end it's nice to win with this awareness."
Yates' Ghosts
Yates and his beard collapsed on the asphalt, panting heavily. And just as he was trying to reconnect with life, From behind his wife brought the furry white dog who started sniffing him and making fun of himSometimes the organizers leave us speechless: they are so strict in keeping photographers away and then they have a dog (even if it's their own) run over the winner of the ranking.
«It is definitely one of the most important victories of my career – says Adam – I wasn't sure I could do it. Obviously, I had a gap to Joao, who started ahead of me, and I knew he would accelerate in the end. I just couldn't do it. I was already at the limit, so I tried to keep up the pace and luckily it was enough.I'm still breathless because it was so challenging. I had 2019 in mind for a long time, when I lost the Tirreno-Adriatico by just one second in the last time trial (Roglic won, ed.) after leading for five stages. And this ghost had been in my head for years. So it's finally nice to win a race with a final time trial like this.
«Furthermore, at the beginning of the year I had a bad accident and the worst thing was that I didn't understand how long it would take me to get backLuckily, things went pretty quickly, and I'm grateful for that. Winning the race is already a great thing, but sharing the podium with Joao is a truly special feeling."
Who knows if Pogacar followed this last time trial and rubbed his hands imagining What peace of mind these two guardian angels will be able to give him at the Tour de France. Now all the pieces are falling into place. Florence is about to become the world capital of cyclingFirst with the Italian Championship weekend and then with the Grand Depart. We're ready, and I have a feeling they are too!
