Tour of Italy: For Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz (Inios Grenadier) is the “No. 1 favorite”

His UAE team Emirates said Portugal’s Joao Almeida, the underdog in the Tour of Italy, should aim for the general classification. But the Portuguese is not the favourite, and he himself has named Ecuadorean Richard Carapaz the No. 1 favourite in the Giro, which starts on Friday from Budapest. “Of course, Richard (Carabaz) is one of the best riders and my #1 favorite, I thinkthe 23-year-old runner mentioned at a press conference. He has already won the Giro (in 2019). He was very good in the Tour last year (the third) and also in the Vuelta (the second, the year before).”

After a 15-day saga in pink, Joao Almeida, then with Deceuninck-Quick Step, blasted off at the Giro 2020 where he finally failed at the foot of the podium. Last year, joint leadership with Belgian Rimko Envipoel did not allow him to fully play his (sixth) card in the first part of the race, unlike this year because he is the only UAE captain.

“We’ll be watching everyone, but especially on Richard (Carabaz) “, explained the Portuguese, the leader of the Catalunya race in March until the Ecuadorean reversed the race by attacking 120 kilometers from the end of the penultimate stage. This ethnic movement allowed the leader of Ineos to beat him in the general classification (second place), which was won by Colombian Sergio Higueta. “We can see that Karapaz was mentally strong to be able to give everything, attacking from afarHe remembers. He had no fear, nothing. She was really strong from him and his team. “