The Portuguese will start the penultimate stage with a two-second buffer in the standings.
João Almeida maintained his leadership at the Tour de Pologne – the season’s 23rd World Tour race – at the end of the 173km stage 5 to Bielsko-Biala, controlled right from the start by Deceuninck- Quick-Step, but marred by several crashes inside the last two kilometers. Having Mikkel Honoré to guide him through the field, João avoided both incidents that reduced the bunch to a handful of riders, who ended up fighting for victory.
The 23-year-old from Caldas da Rainha was in a good position 500 meters from home, but just a few seconds later found himself boxed in and for that reason opened his sprint late. Even in these conditions, Almeida still produced a strong turn of legs which almost brought him another top 3 finish, only a couple of centimeters separating him from the third place and four seconds on the stage won by Nikias Arndt (Team DSM).
“I was feeling good and was confident in my sprint, but I started a bit late because I got boxed in at 350 meters to go. I wanted some bonus seconds today, because I knew that in case of a victory Mohoric could have divested me of the yellow jersey. Luckily I kept it, albeit for a small margin, and will get to wear in the Katowice time trial. On Saturday, everything will depend on what I can do on that hilly course and I will be prepared to give everything out there to hold onto the jersey”, said João after the podium ceremony.
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski / Getty Images
