Almeida: “We are closer and closer to La Roja”

Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): “We knew we would be fighting for the win, but there’s a lot of good teams here, and we need to be realistic. In the end, I think we did a perfect job and we deserve it as well. I think for the team atmosphere to get even better, that’s good, to give us confidence as well. Of course, the gaps are small, it doesn’t really mean anything, but it’s a good start. We had a plan, we did it perfect. Everybody was super strong. We had some good surprises, so it was an amazing team effort. Congrats to everybody! In the last kilometre, everybody was tired. We were just going all in. I was always looking back to see where my teammates were, because the fourth guy sets the time for the team. We were together so I just kept smashing the pedals for every second. I’m happy. I would like to have [La Roja] actually. It’s a beautiful jersey and I’ve never had it. It would be nice to wear it for a first time. It doesn’t matter when. We are closer and closer to it. Let’s see if we grab it, maybe not, but we’ll give it everything we have.”