Joao Almeida was out of sight of television viewers for most of the Passo del Menador, but the Portuguese rider was watching the Giro d'Italia from about 100 meters ahead.

For the second stage in a row, Almeida was unable to catch the pace set by Bahrain Victorious on the final climb of the day. However, Almeida continued to ride hard on the steep uphill, which was lined with hairpins and tunnels, keeping Richard Karapas (Ineos), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Mikkel Landa (Bahrain-Victorias) out of sight.

Television cameras failed to capture Almeida for much of the climb, and RAI's bike reporter Stefano Rizzato kept viewers informed of UAE Team Emirates' position. On the narrowest and steepest section, carved into the rock face by the Austro-Hungarian Kaiserjäger regiment during World War I, Almeida was always "about an inch" behind the lead group.

As the road began to flatten out at the summit, it appeared that Almeida would catch up to former Olympic 800m champion Yuriy Borzakovsky.

Instead, Almeida opened up a wide gap on the surging 8km plateau that leads from the summit of Mendola to the finish in Lavarone. Calapaz, Landa, and Hindley, aware of Almeida's strength against the clock, found common cause to pull away from Almeida here. Almeida finished 1:04 behind the pink jersey group. He remains in fourth place in the overall standings, 1:54 behind leader Calapaz.

"To be honest, I didn't lose much time on the climbs. I lost more time on the flat afterwards, which is difficult when you are alone and against three guys," Almeida said in the mixed zone after the race. But I was able to minimize my losses, so it wasn't a bad day."

Almeida had already lost a few seconds here and there in the Giro, but this was his first major setback in the race. The 24-year-old, who has the aptitude of a ruler, should have had a shot at winning the Giro in the short final time trial in Verona, but his path to victory was narrowed to two minutes, leaving him 49 seconds behind third-place Landa heading into the fourth and final stage.

"I mean, it's all possible, but it's almost impossible to get pink," Almeida said.

"But I think a podium is still possible. But I think a podium is still possible.

Two years ago, when Almeida gave up the pink jersey in Stelvio, he made light of his disappointment, even though he had led for two weeks. He was equally nonchalant when he visited the mixed zone, admitting that just before the Passo del Vetriolo, he realized that this afternoon's race would be the most complicated of all.

"I mean, from the very beginning I felt that today was not my best day. Yesterday was a really brutal day. But the Giro is not over yet, so let's keep fighting," Almeida said.

"I don't think it was a bad day. But the other riders were stronger than me today. But there are still two big stages and the TT.

Thursday's flat to Treviso will provide some respite for the podium contenders before the weekend's grand finale. After tough runs in Slovenia and Friuli on stage 19, the race enters the Dolomites on Saturday. For Almeida to take the pink, one of the riders ahead of him will need to collapse late in the race, but the final 17km test in Verona will keep his podium chances firmly in place.

"There are more hard stages ahead, but I'm still confident I can do well," said Almeida, who smiled when asked about his approach to the final stage of Saturday's Fedaia climb: "I want to give it my all and see the finish line."