{"id":634368,"date":"2026-06-12T06:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/634368\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T06:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:10:19","slug":"we-saw-a-lot-of-strange-things-in-my-blood-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/634368\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe saw a lot of strange things in my blood work&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the setbacks, Almeida believes the trajectory is positive. He particularly highlighted UAE Team Emirates XRG\u2019s performance in the previous day\u2019s team time trial, an effort that left him satisfied on a personal level.  \u201cI\u2019ve felt better each day. I think I did a pretty good team time trial yesterday, so I was very happy afterwards,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>With several mountain stages still to come, the main goal remains to bank race kilometres and keep rebuilding form. \u201cI hope to feel better every day and improve a bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The after-effects of Almeida\u2019s illness<\/p>\n<p>Almeida was also asked about the physical problems that forced him to revise his plans during the first part of the season. Without going into detail, he confirmed that medical tests flagged anomalies that ultimately shaped his preparation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw a lot of strange things in my blood work. I don\u2019t have much to add,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>The Portuguese said he initially tried to keep training to see how things evolved, but eventually had to stop. \u201cFirst I tried to keep training to see how it went and then in the end I had to stop. That\u2019s how it is,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/almeida-6a294d1f0244c.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Jo\u00e3o Almeida, UAE Team Emirates XRG leader.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Joao Almeida, estrella de UAE Team Emirates XRG.<\/p>\n<p>La Vuelta on the horizon<\/p>\n<p>Although he acknowledges there\u2019s still work to do to fully regain race level, Almeida sounded confident about the coming months. \u201cI feel good on the bike, I\u2019m just missing the shape. I just need to train and prepare better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The day-to-day signs point to optimism. \u201cOverall I feel good, I just lack preparation. I feel I\u2019m recovering well every day. It\u2019s a very good sign,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he could reach the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a in good condition, the Portuguese was clear: \u201cYes, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, at the Tour Auvergne Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes he remains grounded and aware the process takes patience. \u201cYou don\u2019t get form in a few days. It\u2019s months of preparation,\u201d he recalled. Looking ahead to the decisive mountain stages, Almeida hopes to keep building and contribute to UAE Team Emirates XRG\u2019s collective work. \u201cI\u2019ll see what I can do and help Del Toro,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Despite the setbacks, Almeida believes the trajectory is positive. He particularly highlighted UAE Team Emirates XRG\u2019s performance&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,109610,56668,101,209408,12183,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-634368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-joao-almeida","tag-sports","tag-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}