Tom Pidcock explains why he sat on João Almeida for much of the final climb at La Vuelta stage 9, and then sprinted against him (Photo: Naike Ereñozaga)
Just a couple of days after accusing Jonas Vingegaard of being workshy when he had a chance to get away in a breakaway, João Almeida has now directed his criticisms at Tom Pidcock, telling the British rider to “grow some balls”.
The criticism came after Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) sat on Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) for most of the final climb on stage 9 of La Vuelta today, Sunday, only for Pidcock to sprint against him at the finish and beat him for 2nd place.
Almeida and Pidcock were 2nd and 3rd on the road for the final cat 1 climb to the finish at Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray. They were chasing Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike), who had attacked early on the ascent and powered clear for a solo stage win and time gain.
In the chase behind him, Almeida was definitely more capable of riding hard than Pidcock, with the British rider staying glued to his wheel for most of the ascent.
However, Pidcock clearly felt revived at the finish, where he sprinted in for 2nd place, also taking some bonus seconds off Almeida. At stage end, Pidcock said Almeida wasn’t too impressed with the way he rode.
“I thought Almeida’s was the perfect wheel to go on, and I thought maybe we’d come back, but chapeau to him – I couldn’t give him any turns,” Pidcock said of their two-man chase after Vingegaard made his move.
“He was shouting at me, but he’s like a tractor, you know, especially when we got on this flatter section. Then the last kilometre when he went, it was impressive, I could only just come round him at the finish, but I’m happy to be honest.
“He told me to grow some balls,” Pidcock added, with a laugh as he spoke to the media in the finish area. “But if he rides a bit slower, I’ll give him some more turns.”
😡 El cabreo de Almeida con Pidcock por no ayudar en la persecución a Vingegaard.#LaVuelta25 pic.twitter.com/AwxrRQ18Hx
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) August 31, 2025
On Friday’s stage 7 of the race, Almeida found himself off the front of the general classification group with Vingegaard. He clearly wanted to press home their advantage on the final climb to Cerlers but the Danish rider wouldn’t cooperate.
When asked about that at the finish, Almeida said he understood Vingegaard didn’t need to ride. But he then suggest Vingegaard was a conversative rider, anyway, and not known for his work on the front. “I think he doesn’t really pull a lot of times, right?” he said.