«João Almeida told Jan Christen to push the pace and Jan replied ‘no, I won’t’. Then, João attacked, furious». The statement belongs to a UAE Emirates runner, quoted anonymously on the CyclingUpToDate website and refers to a situation that occurred during the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland, involving the Portuguese and his young Swiss teammate.
According to the same testimony, Jan Christen intended to start the Swiss race as team leader, a scenario that contributed to the tense atmosphere experienced on the first day of the race. In that stage, marked by intense rain and a chaotic start, João Almeida, designated leader of UAE Emirates, lost more than three minutes to the winner, Frenchman Romain Grégoire, and also significant time to Kévin Vauquelin, who kept the yellow jersey until the last round, when he was overtaken by the Portuguese in a chrono-climb.
The team had Felix Grossschartner in the lead group, with more than 20 riders, but the Austrian was not considered a strategic priority. Even so, Almeida was forced to work around 15 kilometers from the finish line, without being able to reduce the disadvantage. The most unexpected moment came upon arrival in Kussnacht, when Jan Christen attacked, surprising teammates and opponents.
According to the same source cited by CyclingUpToDate, Almeida asked Christen to collaborate in this decisive moment of the stage, a request that was refused. «With the rain and everything else, there were only João and Jan left. João told Jan to push the pace and Jan replied ‘no, I won’t’. Then João attacked, furious», reported the UAE Emirates cyclist.
The episode gained even greater visibility due to public criticism made by Mikkel Bjerg, also a team runner, after the stage. The Dane was surprised by Christen’s initiative: «I was very surprised by his attack. It’s good to see you have good legs. It’s a shame that I still don’t understand how to help the rest of the team, but that’s the way it is.”
Jan Christen ended up abandoning the Tour of Switzerland in the 6th stage and did not play a decisive role in João Almeida’s recovery towards the yellow jersey.
The case became even more symbolic because four months earlier, in the Volta ao Algarve, in the 2nd stage, with the final in Alto da Fóia, João Almeida allowed Jan Christen to achieve victory. After leaving Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic behind, the Portuguese caught up with his teammate on the finish line, but chose not to overtake him, throwing away the yellow jersey, which belonged to Christen until the last day, when he lost it to Vingegaard in the time trial ending in Alto do Malhão.
«If it were me, I would have returned the favor», reinforced the UAE Emirates cyclist, highlighting the contrast between the two episodes.
For the future, it is expected that João Almeida and Jan Christen will return together in the 2026 Giro d’Italia, a race in which UAE Emirates will entrust the leadership to the Portuguese, in a formation that should also include Adam Yates, Jay Vine, António Morgado, Florian Vermeersch and Igor Arrieta.
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