Frustrated Mas openly asked for it, but Almeida explains why he didn't let him win in the Basque Country

João Almeida has always been dismissed as a follower, someone who didn’t win often and was more frequently on the verge of being dropped than contending for victory. But since 2024, the 26-year-old Portuguese rider of UAE Team Emirates–XRG has been quickly building an impressive palmarès. With both stage and overall victory in the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday, he added two more wins to his name, although it came at the expense of Enric Mas in the finale.

Almeida had seized control of the race on stage four, dropping everyone on a steep final climb and soloing to victory. On stages five and six, his yellow leader’s jersey was never seriously threatened, but in soaking wet conditions, the question remained whether he’d be generous. Mas, who had climbed to second overall after a strong day, was even caught on camera asking if he could take the stage win from their two-man break. But Almeida convincingly sprinted for the win himself.

That brings his win tally to 17, including big fish since like stage and overall wins at the Tour de Suisse, a stage win at Paris–Nice, and now the Basque Country since 2024. “When the rain came in the final, it got dangerous and I didn’t want to take any risks. Luckily, I was safely up front with Enric. I tried to drop him, but he was super strong. I was on the limit, took one or two pulls, and in the end, my team and I deserved another win. That’s why I went for the sprint,” Almeida explained when asked why he didn’t gift the win to Mas.

Read more below the photo.

Mas clearly frustrated by passive Almeida

For Enric Mas, it ended with two second places: one in the stage and one in the overall classification. The 30-year-old Spaniard stood on the podium with a big smile, but during the stage, it was a different story. Mas did most of the work and was visibly frustrated by Almeida’s passive riding. Almeida only took a few turns at the front before outsprinting Mas, who never really stood a chance in the final dash.

Mas will have to postpone his fiery ambition to win more in 2025. Although he was seen clearly asking Almeida mid-race if he could take the stage win, the answer was a firm no. After the finish, there was a brief exchange between the two. Mas later clarified that it wasn’t necessarily about winning the stage, he simply wanted to know from Almeida whether he could go for the victory, or whether he needed to keep pushing to secure his second place in the general classification.

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