UAE Team Emirates-XRG's João Almeida has abandoned the Tour de France during stage 9, meaning race leader and defending champion Tadej Pogačar loses a key climbing domestique with two weeks left to race.
Almeida was one of the worst affected in the late stage 7 crash that forced Jack Haig (Jayco-AlUla) to abandon on the spot, but despite suffering a broken rib, significant abrasions and an injury to his finger that was apparently keeping him from full control of his bike, the Portuguese all-rounder endured through stage 8 and was able to start on Sunday morning. However, after about 100 km of racing on the flat roads towards Châteauroux, Almeida finally succumbed and abandoned the Tour.
Joe Lindsey
Not only was Almeida a key climbing domestique for Pogačar, but he was naturally poised as a GC foil given his high placing before stage 7 and the scintillating form he brought into the Tour; after a strong start to the season in Spain and Portugal, then a stage win at Paris-Nice, the 26-year-old went on to win three WorldTour stage races in a row: Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse.
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