{"id":195927,"date":"2024-06-17T12:10:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T12:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=195927"},"modified":"2024-06-17T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T12:10:57","slug":"yates-and-almeida-dominate-the-tour-de-suisse-look-primed-for-the-tdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/06\/17\/yates-and-almeida-dominate-the-tour-de-suisse-look-primed-for-the-tdf\/","title":{"rendered":"Yates and Almeida Dominate the Tour de Suisse, Look Primed for the TdF"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the evidence of the Giro d\u2019Italia and the just completed Tour de Suisse, we can gift-wrap the Tour de France yellow jersey and ship it, express, to Tadej Poga\u010dar\u2019s house. No need even to run the race. Because as dominant as the Slovenian\u2019s Giro win was, by nearly 10 minutes, the one-two finish of his top lieutenants, Adam Yates and Jo\u00e3o Almeida, in the Tour de Suisse was, in a way, even more impressive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Yates won the GC by 22 seconds over his teammate, with last year\u2019s winner, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), completing the podium, 3:02 adrift. That is a sizeable winning margin for an eight-day race. But what really illustrated the dominance of the Yates-Almeida tandem was that they finished one-two in the last four stages of the race, all mountain finishes, including Sunday\u2019s ITT.<\/p>\n

Stage 5: 148.6 km, Ambri to Cari<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Adam Yates<\/li>\n
  2. Jo\u00e3o Almeida, 0:05<\/li>\n
  3. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), 0:16<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Stage 6: 42.5 km (stage shortened due to weather), Ulrichen to Blatten<\/strong><\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. Jo\u00e3o Almeida<\/li>\n
    2. Adam Yates, 0:04<\/li>\n
    3. Skjelmose, 0:09<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Stage 7: 118 km, Villars-sur-Ollons to Villars-sur-Ollons<\/strong><\/h4>\n
        \n
      1. Adam Yates<\/li>\n
      2. Jo\u00e3o Almeida, same time<\/li>\n
      3. Matthew Riccitello (Israel\u2013Premier Tech), 0:14<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Stage 8: 15.7 km ITT, Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollons<\/strong><\/h4>\n
          \n
        1. Jo\u00e3o Almeida<\/li>\n
        2. Adam Yates, 0:09<\/li>\n
        3. Mattias Skjelmose, 0:20<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          The ITT performance was especially eye-catching since two-thirds of it consisted of a tough category 1 climb (10.2 km @ 8%, with the steepest ramps on the final 3 km). That augurs well for the team as the Tour\u2019s final stage includes a tricky climb (8.1 km @ 5.6%).<\/p>\n

          So thoroughly did the UAE Team Emirates outclass the competition that Yates was able to ask Almeida, as they were climbing to the finish (7.9 km @ 7.6%) on stage 7 if he would let him take the stage win. Always a gentleman, Almeida agreed.<\/p>\n

          Yates expressed his gratitude after that stage. \u201cHe is a very nice person,\u201d he told journalists. \u201cWhen we rode away together, he asked me what we were going to do. I asked if I could win and he immediately said yes. It shows what a great person he is, and what a good teammate. He was also very good himself, so he could have easily won. Credit to him for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

          For the 31-year-old Yates, this was his first victory in a major World Tour stage race.<\/p>\n

          \n
          \n

          We present to you the winner of #tds2024<\/a> and his mighty dog Zoe\ud83d\udc51\ud83d\ude0d
          .          @AdamYates7<\/a> @TeamEmiratesUAE<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MhoaExlNOY<\/a><\/p>\n

          — Tour de Suisse (@tds) June 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n