Optimists live longer than pessimists, as the Belgian saying has it, and João Almeida opted to take away more positives than negative from his second place overall at the Vuelta a España despite the disappointment of not being able to take the fight to race leader Jonas Vingegaard in the final week.
The 27-year-old has been suffering from an influenza virus and, as he told reporters after stage 20, that illness had "limited me a lot".
That didn't stop him and UAE Team Emirates-XRG from doing the utmost to test Vingegaard on the last stage, notably not placing a rider in the break of the day - as they have done on almost every previous mountain stage - and opting instead to go full throttle all the way to the final climb in the main peloton.
Mountains classification leader Jay Vine provided the final acceleration onto the steep, higher slopes of the Bola del Mundo, but Almeida was unable use his teammate's effort to lift off in the way he did to such devastating effect in the Angliru.
Instead, Almeida was pushed to his limit by the top, finally crossing the finish line in fifth place, 22 seconds behind, after the Visma-Lease a Bike stage winner had attacked in the last kilometre.
It was a disappointing finale, but as Almeida pointed out afterwards, it had been a hard final week because of his illness, and he simply had to make do with what he had.
"It was super hard, I was on the limit for the whole stage, but we had to try, we had nothing to lose," Almeida said.
"We went all out for it, we tried, and we gave it everything, but Jonas was stronger."
On the plus side, this was his best result in a Grand Tour, after his third place overall and Best Young Rider's achievement in the 2023 GIro d'Italia. It comes in a year of runaway success on a personal level, too, with wins in Itzulia Basque Country, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse.
Only the Tour de France went seriously wrong for Almeida after he crashed at the end of the first week. But being able to turn things around to such great effect in the Vuelta - where he had unfinished business after abandoning with COVID-19 in 2024, too - meant that he was able to challenge no less a figure than Vingegaard for the win.
"Unfortunatey I've been sick this week, with flu and a sore throat, although that's the same for a lot of guys in the peloton. So my feelings were not the best, but we tried and that's what matters, so I have no regrets," Almeida said. "I just have to keep pushing forwards."
UAE Team Emirates can also pat themselves on their collective back for the jaw-droppingly high number of stage wins they have taken - seven, including one by Almeida on the most prestigious climb of the entire race, the Angliru - as well as the King of the Mountains and the Teams prizes. All in all, even if the red jersey remains beyond them, they will be climbing onto the final winner's podium in Cibeles on Sunday in Madrid for multiple good reasons.
For Almeida, a runner's-up spot in the Vuelta is another big milestone in his career too.
"My congrats to Jonas," Almeida concluded, "he was super-strong and being second behind him - that's not so bad."
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