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Almeida wins time-trial to take Tour of Switzerland / Photo: © AFP
Almeida wins time-trial to take 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."
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.
N.Wilson--SFF
