João Almeida “should be able” to start Saturday’s eighth stage of the Tour de France, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have said, after he crashed hard on stage seven in Mûr-de-Bretagne and fractured a rib.
It was a bittersweet day for the squad, who won the hilltop finish and reclaimed the yellow jersey through Tadej Pogačar, but were left worried about the condition of Almeida, after he returned to the team bus in a car – rather than descending by bike like the rest of the peloton.
Dishevelled, the Portuguese rider then waded through the fans, his skinsuit unzipped and torn at the elbow.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG later confirmed he had suffered a rib fracture, but “thankfully there was no serious injury”.
A statement from the team doctor, Adrian Rotunno, read: “After clinical examination, we immediately took him for relevant radiological investigations. It’s confirmed he has an uncomplicated left-sided rib fracture, as well as some profound abrasions to his body. Fortunately no concussion.
“We will be monitoring him carefully going forward. The next few days will be difficult for him, but at this point, he should be able to start tomorrow’s stage.”
Almeida’s crash came on a descent with around 6km to go of the finishing circuit in Mûr-de-Bretagne, and also saw Bahrain Victorious’s Jack Haig and Santiago Buitrago fall hard on the asphalt. Rather than springing back to his feet, The UAE rider initially sat stunned in the grass verge at the side of the road, before remounting and riding to the finish line.
At the team bus located 2km down the climb, his team manager, Mauro Gianetti, awaited Almeida's arrival. “The only plan that wasn’t good in the tactics was João’s crash. We just hope it wasn’t such a bad crash because it was very fast,” he said.
When the 26-year-old finally returned, he did so in the backseat of the car of his sports director, Matxin Fernández, who said the crash was “really disappointing”.
“[He’s been] working a lot – altitude training camp, days outside of the house, sacrifice, nutrition, all made perfect. Then with 6km to the final, it’s the situation,” Fernández said.
“He has a little hole here,” the sports director continued, pointing to his elbow, but fortunately “after moving the hands, moving the arms, there’s no problem in the clavicle [collarbone].”
“Now he’ll take a shower, and then after maybe to the X-ray. He has pain in this area [his ribs],” Fernández said. “And the finger is really [painful].”
Almeida came into this year's Tour as a podium contender, having won the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Romandie and Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year.
Asked if he can still challenge in the overall standings, Fernández replied frankly: “[He lost] minimum 10 minutes... In that situation, it’s more important not to think about the podium, but think in recovery.”
