
Giro d'Italia contender João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) did not turn the time trial of a lifetime on Sunday but the Portuguese racer remains very much a part of the GC battle after ceding just 35 seconds to stage winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).
Ninth on the stage, Almeida is lying fifth at 1:07, and he was logically upbeat about his chances in the next two weeks as he warmed down outside the UAE team bus.