João Almeida emptied a rather suspect sachet of red sauce into the tupperware box of his recovery meal after he took a seat for his post-race press conference atop Monte Bondone. Cue gasps from a horrified sala stampa. For some, questions about his victory on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia would have to wait until he had accounted for this outrage.
“Don’t tell the nutritionist, but it’s ketchup,” Almeida confirmed to murmurs of disapproval from the front row. It was the only false step of a day that saw the Portuguese rider insert himself firmly into the picture as a potential overall winner of this race in Rome on Sunday evening.
