João Almeida has suggested he will undergo medical exams to see what was holding back during a disappointing week at the Volta a Catalunya.
The Portuguese star, who won three week-long WorldTour races last year as well as placing runner-up at the Vuelta a España, was anonymous in Catalunya, completing all seven stages but finishing down in 38th place.
Ahead of the final stage, Almeida revealed that something was wrong and that it would require investigation.
"Not great, I'm not feeling really good on the bike," Almeida told the Eurosport cameras ahead of Sunday's final stage, which he completed in 75th place.
"I just need to rest a bit and maybe see what’s wrong with me, and keep working hard towards the next goal."
Almeida started the 2026 season in solid fashion, placing runner-up at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and third at the Volta ao Algarve. However, he cancelled his planned participation at Paris-Nice earlier this month due to 'flu-like symptoms.
At Catalunya, he came through the gentle opening four days in the main cluster of GC riders but fell away in the mountains. He crashed on stage 5 ahead of the Coll de Pal summit finish, where he was dropped before Jonas Vingegaard even made his stage-winning move. After fighting to 16th on the day, Almeida faded from view on stage 6, finishing 16 minutes down before coming home in a group almost three minutes down on the Barcelona finale.
"The crash has nothing to do with it," he insisted. "I was already feeling quite bad since starting, even before the race started.
"I just need to look into it. I need to do maybe some exams, I don't know, some blood analysis, we’ll see with the medical team."
Almeida is not scheduled to race again before he takes aim at the Giro d'Italia in May. Despite missing a week's racing at Paris-Nice, and not knowing his true state of health, he is not minded to change any plans at this point.
"I don’t think so, I think I'm going to keep the same one," he said of his race programme.
