But few could have predicted the stunning long-distance move that moved the white and green jersey from his back to the back of Bora-Hansgrohe's Sergio Igita. After a monumental 130km attack with Richard Calapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), the Colombian turned a 7-second gap into a 52-second advantage heading into Sunday's final stage.
The duo led the pack for more than three-quarters of the four-hour stage, breaking away on the first categorized climb of the day. Almeida crossed the front of the peloton 48 seconds behind the pair, keeping alive his hopes for a third stage race win.
After the race, the 23-year-old Almeida admitted to making a mistake on the Col de l'Ebre by being too far behind the peloton when the two jumped into the lead group, thanks to a set-up by his Carapaz teammate Luke Plapp.
"It wasn't perfect," Almeida explained after the finish. "It was my mistake, to be honest. To be honest, it was my mistake. But this is bike racing.
"It was a hard day. I think the whole peloton was tired in these conditions. Tomorrow is another day. We'll recover from today and see what happens tomorrow."
The final stage of the Volta was a hilly course around the Parc Montjuïc. Carapaz is 16 seconds behind Higuain and could be back in contention, but for Almeida, being in contention for the win looks like overkill.
Almeida said that he and his team expected stage 5 to be a tricky day.
"Certainly, we expected it to be a hard stage. Not easy. Certainly difficult. It was a tricky stage, even in this weather; the two attacks were unexpected.
"But as I said, in the end it was my fault for starting too far back. Still, I want to thank my teammates for working so hard for us all day. They did a really great job."
UAE Team Emirates, along with Juan Ayuso, George Bennett, Rui Costa, and Marc Soler, controlled the peloton for most of the stage. However, just before the last 50 km, Uno X and Bahrain Victorious closed to within 2 minutes of each other on the final climb.
"It's normal," Almeida replied when asked about the other teams refusing to work. We have the leader's jersey and we are a good team. We have the leader's jersey and we are a good team, so if I were in another team's shoes, I would do the same thing. That's bicycle racing."
Almeida's teammate Ayuso made his own move down the final climb of the Col de la Teixeta with 29km to go. In a bizarre move to gain a 1:30 minute gap on the breakaway group, the 19-year-old Ayuso, currently in fifth place on GC, was pulled back just short of the finish line. The leader explained what happened on the descent.
"I think my [tire] pressure was a bit too high and I slipped a bit in the corner. I was sorry for the rider behind me," he joked.
"I told Ayuso to go solo.
"He ended up in the lead group with some other riders and I was in another group. In the end it wasn't so bad. I don't think it was that bad in the end.
"We always have to look at things positively. I think we can be proud of the race we did anyway."
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