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After being the first Portuguese to finish the Giro d’Italia among the top three last year, Almeida confirmed his status as the second best Portuguese cyclist ever by finishing the 111th Tour de France in fourth place, after having been fifth in the final time trial.
Stephane Mahe
João Almeida became, on Sunday, the second best Portuguese cyclist ever in the Tour de France, and the first to finish all three Grand Tours in the top 5, solidifying his place as the successor to Joaquim Agostinho.
At 25 years old, the cyclist from A-dos-Francos finished his Tour debut in fourth place, surpassing José Azevedo’s fifth place in 2004 and ‘moving closer’ to Agostinho, the only Portuguese to stand on the podium of the biggest international cycling event, placing third in 1978 and 1979.
Having been the first Portuguese to finish the Giro d’Italia among the top three last year, Almeida confirmed his status as the second best Portuguese cyclist ever by finishing the 111th Tour de France in fourth place, after being fifth in the final time trial.
Montenegro congratulated João Almeida
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, congratulated João Almeida (UAE Emirates) today for his historic fourth place in the Tour de France.
“I enthusiastically congratulate João Almeida for the historic fourth place achieved today in the Tour de France, the premier event in world cycling. Another great result from a champion we continue to expect a lot from in the future. Congratulations, João Almeida,” wrote the head of government on the social network X.
The UAE Emirates rider also achieved an unprecedented feat: he is the first to rank in the top five of all the Grand Tours, having also finished fifth in the 2022 Vuelta – he would rise to fourth after Miguel Ángel López was disqualified.
History in major races began in 2020
His story in the three ‘greats’ began with a fourth place in the 2020 Giro, writing one of the most beautiful pages in Portuguese cycling after 15 days as the overall leader of the ‘corsa rosa’.
That year, more than improving José Azevedo’s record, who in 2001, in the role of helper to the Spaniard Abraham Olano, finished fifth – the same position he achieved in the 2004 Tour – the kid from A-dos-Francos (Caldas da Rainha) made Portugal dream of an unprecedented victory in one of the Grand Tours.
This was followed by a sixth place in 2021, a disappointment due to covid-19 the following year, which he redeemed with a fifth position in his debut in the Vuelta, the race in which he finished ninth last year.
Joaquim Agostinho finished in the top 10 eleven times
Now, he gets even closer to Joaquim Agostinho, the greatest Portuguese cyclist of all time: there were 11 times the Torres Vedras rider, who died in 1984 following a fall in the Tour of Algarve, finished in the top 10 of Grand Tours, with his third places in the Tour remaining as the most extraordinary achievements in national cycling.
Although his palmarès includes the status of vice-champion of the Vuelta in 1974, it is the performances in the Tour de France, where he also placed fifth (1971 and 1980), sixth (1974), and eighth (1969, 1972, and 1973), that endure in the collective imagination.
With Sunday’s result, Almeida definitively leaves José Azevedo behind, who also finished sixth in the 2002 Tour. The UAE Emirates rider does not know another reality in the Grand Tours besides the top 10, except for the mishap in 2022 when battling for the final podium of the ‘corsa rosa’ when a positive covid-19 test took him out of the race.
Portuguese in the top 10 of Grand Tours
2nd in the 1974 Vuelta
3rd in the 1978 Tour
3rd in the 1979 Tour
5th in the 1971 Tour
5th in the 1980 Tour
6th in the 1973 Vuelta
6th in the 1974 Tour
7th in the 1976 Vuelta
8th in the 1969 Tour
8th in the 1972 Tour
8th in the 1973 Tour
3rd in the 2023 Giro
4th in the 2024 Tour
4th in the 2020 Giro
4th in the 2022 Vuelta *
6th in the 2022 Giro
9th in the 2023 Vuelta
5th in the 2001 Giro
5th in the 2004 Tour **
6th in the 2002 Tour **
* The fourth-placed Miguel Ángel López was disqualified for doping. ** Lance Armstrong was stripped of his victory and the race was left without a winner.