Portugal’s João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) lived up to expectations and was crowned champion of the 2025 Tour de Suisse, after finishing the fastest in the 10-kilometer time trial between Beckenried and Stockhütte.
The top finishers in the Swiss race were Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and Briton Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL), who finished second and third, respectively.
The best Latin American finisher was Argentine Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto) in 18th place, 17:40 behind the champion. The only Colombian still competing, Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) from Boyacá, didn’t have a good feeling and finished in 50th place, more than 59 minutes behind Almeida.
“It was a long road. You know that a mistake can cost you a lot, but fortunately we didn’t make any serious ones,” the Portuguese rider summed up at the end of the race. In his characteristic calm and almost pedagogical tone, Almeida naturally outlined the keys to his success. “I’m very happy. I felt very good, although at times I thought my altimeter wasn’t calibrated because it was showing higher numbers than usual,” he joked with a smile.
“Today (Sunday) I started a little too fast, to be honest. I overdid it at the start and by the end I didn’t have any more gas left to push in the last kilometer. But it wasn’t necessary,” he confessed. His plan, despite the initial setback, never strayed from the objective: “From the first day, when I lost 3 minutes, the team did a great job. We never forgot that we could win, we always believed, and in the end we did.”
The victory has even greater significance when framed within the brilliant 2025 that the Caldas da Rainha rider is having. Before Switzerland, he had already won the Itzulia and the Tour de Romandie, and finished second in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and the Algarve.
Three one-week World Tour tours in just two and a half months. A feat that, with the exception of very few cases like Sean Kelly or Bradley Wiggins, is unmatched in recent cycling history. The Portuguese rider continues to establish himself as one of the great specialists in one-week tours and will be a great soldier for Pogacar in the Tour.
This demonstration of consistency and regularity cements Almeida as one of the great leaders of the current peloton. And not only because of his physical ability, but also because of his bombproof mentality. “Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes nothing is perfect. You just have to keep trying. And we did,” he summed up with emotion.
Since Isola 2000, his teammate Tadej Pogacar—preparing for his assault on the Tour de France—has been applauding his teammate’s feat. Almeida, for his part, is already thinking about what’s next: “We’ll have time to enjoy this victory, but I’m ready for France. I hope we can win more there.”
With 22 victories as a professional, Joao Almeida has ceased to be the eternal promise and has definitively become a benchmark in world cycling. His victory in Switzerland wasn’t just brilliant. It was epic. And now he’s looking forward to the Tour. To help Pogacar and, also, as a backup plan in case anything happens.
Ranking General
| 1 | João Almeida | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 29:29:01 |
| 2 | Kévin Vauquelin | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | 1:07 |
| 3 | Oscar Onley | Team Picnic PostNL | 1:58 |
| 4 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 2:20 |
| 5 | Julian Alaphilippe | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 3:57 |
| 6 | Lennard Kämna | Lidl-Trek | 4:52 |
| 7 | Ben O’Connor | Team Jayco-AlUla | 5:08 |
| 8 | Ilan Van Wilder | Soudal Quick-Step | 6:16 |
| 9 | Pablo Castrillo | Movistar Team | 6:41 |
| 10 | Clément Champoussin | XDS Astana Team | 8:30 |