Piuro: UAE Team Emirates' Joo Almeida claimed a solo victory on stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse, successfully completing a 49-kilometre attack into Piuro, Italy. The Portuguese rider made a strong comeback after losing time in earlier stages of the race.
According to Emirates News Agency, Almeida made his decisive move 1.8km from the summit of the Splgenpass, with crucial support from his teammates. He managed to distance Oscar Onley of Picnic-PostNL and Felix Gall from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, finishing 40 seconds ahead of his nearest competitors.
This victory propels Almeida from 18th to 7th in the general classification, placing him 2 minutes and 7 seconds behind the current race leader Romain Gr©goire of Groupama-FDJ.
Almeida expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating, 'I gave a lot - it was a hard effort with a lot of teamwork and it was nice to finish it off. There's still a long way to go and more time to claw back, but I'm happy with the stage win. We'll try again tomorrow. It's a hard stage, but I'm in good shape, and with the Tour de France approaching, that's a good sign.'
This marks the 46th victory of the season for UAE Team Emirates.