Almeida dominates time-trial to claim Tour of Switzerland

Joao Almeida of Team UAE said he nearly blew the closing time-trial of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday before recovering to wrest victory from overnight leader Kevin Vauquelin.

“I think I started too fast,” the Portuguese rider said after the closing 10.1km uphill time-trial.

“I overpaced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary.”

Almeida beat Austrian Felix Gall by 25 seconds and Frenchman Vauquelin, who was fourth on the day, by 1min 40sec.

“It’s a lesson: you should never give up,” said Almeida, who lost the race by 22 seconds last year. “Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it.”

It was second straight stage victory for Almeida, who had cut Vauquelin’s lead to 33 seconds on Saturday.

Sunday’s ultimately dominant ride meant the Portuguese rider beat Vauquelin by 1:07 in the overall standings.

“I’m super happy. I did a good climb, and I was feeling really good,” Almeida said.

Almeida is a team-mate of reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, who recently won another warm-up race the Criterium du Dauphine. Almeida said he understood what his role would be.

“I’ll have time to enjoy this win and I’ll be ready for the Tour de France,” Almeida said.

“I’ll support Tadej Pogacar there and hope we can get more great wins.”

“I think I started too fast, I over paced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary.

“One mistake can cost you a lot; luckily, we could make it up. At the end of the day, it’s a lesson: you should never give up.

“Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it. I’ll have time to enjoy this win and I’ll be ready for the Tour de France,” he added.

Breakout star Scotsman Oscar Onley was third on the day 1:12 behind Almeida and finished third overall 51sec behind Vauquelin.

Vauquelin was striving to become he first French rider to win any stage race on the elite road racing World Tour circuit since Christophe Moreau claimed the Criterium du Dauphine in 2007.

Meanwhile, Filippo Baroncini wrapped up a breakthrough performance at the Baloise Belgium Tour, defending his overall lead on the final flat stage in Brussels to claim his first-ever stage race GC victory.

The Italian moved into the violet leader’s jersey after Stage 4 in Durbuy and, with the full backing of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, held off all challengers to seal the overall classification by a slim but decisive margin.

Baroncini said: “I came into the race in good shape from the Giro, so I knew if things went our way this week something was possible. The goal was to win with the team because Florian was also flying.

“Stage 4 was a great stage for me, the group stayed away and while I didn’t win the stage I was able to take the crucial time I needed in the GC .Today the team worked perfectly to defend the jersey so it was an excellent week overall.“

Earlier, Florian Vermeersch and Baroncini both delivered classy performances on stage 3 of the Baloise Belgium Tour, placing third and fourth, respectively, to leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG in a strong position.

With 10th place on the day, Rune Herregodts ensured that three of the top 10 would come from the Emirati squad on Friday afternoon.

With their efforts in the 9.7km-long individual time trial, Vermeersch and Baroncini now sit third and fourth in the general classification, less than 20 seconds off the race lead of stage 3 winner Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step). The British rider pipped Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) to the day’s honours in Tessenderlo-Ham.

Agencies