One of the top pre-race favourites for this May's Giro d'Italia, João Almeida, has confirmed that he will not, finally, be taking part, after illness severely impacted on his build-up for the event.
The news was first reported by Portuguese media then confirmed by the rider himself on his Instagram account on Monday morning.
"Unfortunately I won’t be at the start of the Giro d’Italia next month as planned," the 27-year-old racer posted.
"Sickness in the past months has affected my preparations too much and has meant I just won’t quite be ready in time which is a shame as it’s a race I love so much.
"After talking it through with the team we decided it was best to take a rest period and switch focus to new goals later in the season."
Almeida had recently indicated he was being held back by something he couldn't quite pin down, suggesting he'd be undergoing blood tests following a subdued display at the Volta a Catalunya late last month. "I just need to rest a bit and maybe see what’s wrong with me," he said at the time.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG racer has taken part in the Giro d'Italia four times and is both a former podium finisher and stage winner in 2023.
Almeida also had his Grand Tour breakthrough in the race back in 2020, leading it for the best part of two weeks with an unexpectedly stubborn defence of the maglia rosa despite his inexperience.
Hopes had been high that he would be able to follow up his podium finish in the Vuelta a España last year with a fresh challenge to Jonas Vingegaard - who defeated him in Spain - this May.
Instead, UAE will be relying on Adam Yates and Jay Vine to lead their charge, with a replacement rider for Almeida yet to be announced.
Almeida himself has yet to confirm his new targets for the season, although a return to the Tour de France to support Tadej Pogačar could well take place.
"We haven’t set out those new goals yet but that will be done calmly in the next few weeks… For now it’s time to first rest-up a bit and build things back up slowly."
