João Almeida is raising the alarm and it's a significant signal, given that it comes just weeks before the Giro d'Italia for which the Portuguese rider was supposed to be the designated leader of UAE Emirates XRG.

The conditional is necessary because, after a disappointing March, the Portuguese rider has decided to stop and try to understand what's happening. In an interview released to the newspaper A Bola on the eve of the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya, Almeida did not hide his state of discomfort: "I don't feel very good on the bike right now. Maybe I need to rest, understand what's wrong and continue to work hard. Maybe it's also the case that I should undergo thorough medical tests to try to understand what's not working: probably I need some tests and analyses. I need to talk about it with the team's medical staff".

Almeida, who was coming off a withdrawal from Paris-Nice, never managed to be competitive even on the roads of Catalonia where he finished 38th in the general classification. A result that, as he himself admitted, was not affected by the crash he suffered because "I was already feeling this way before the start".

Time, however, is working against Almeida: in less than 40 days the Giro d'Italia awaits him for the challenge against Vingegaard. From the results of the medical tests and checks, we will understand whether UAE Emirates XRG's plans can be respected or if the Emirati team will need to reshuffle the cards for the pink race.