“Plus, I don’t think I can beat Tadej right now. So, I’d rather finish third or fourth in a race, being part of his history of victories, than try to get a result for another team and still finish third or fourth,” he justifies. “That’s how I see it.”

Certainly it is a valid point, and with Almeida already finishing fourth at the 2024 Tour, it is quite evident that his personal ambitions aren’t necessarily hampered even at the Tour. He has done this with his trademark climbing performances, where pacing is king.

“In the end, it’s science, science applied to sport. With the various tests we do, combined with the sensations you get in those moments, you can know exactly how many watts you can push on the pedals for a given period of time,” he answers when asked about his way of climbing.

“I could even follow those attacks straight away, but I don’t because I don’t want to, since I know those attacking riders will collapse two kilometers later. In my mind, sometimes in those moments I say to myself, ‘I’ll catch you, I’m pretty sure I’ll catch you’…”

“Then of course, if we’re talking about Pogacar, Vingegaard, or Evenepoel, I wouldn’t even try something like that. But in other cases, I know I can catch the attacker. So, you could say I save my attack for later.” He has used this effectively to success, but the key point is that he simply has the ability to put out the power when it matters.

Body weight

As a top climber managing the weight during the season is always key, specially for a rider who’s been performing near the top since early February. But Almeida has been very consistent all throughout the year impressively.

“Yeah, exactly. I mean, personally, I, I do not like to feel hungry, especially all the time. So of course I need to take my diet serious. But at the same time, I mean, it is not the end of the world if you are a few grams above your weight, right?” But what he shares is that he is not always at the ‘ideal’ race weight, and it does not significantly hamper his performance.

“I went to Vuelta with, like, kilo, kilo and a half above my weight and I still managed to win on Angliru, so I think it is a good example,” he adds. “One of the steepest climbs where the weight is super important. But if you do not have power, you are not gonna move forward, so it is a good example.”