Any hopes Remco Evenepoel may have had for taking three wins out of three stages at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain for his QuickStep-AlphaVinyl team were shattered on Friday's tough summit finish at Antenas del Maigmó as Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) clinched both stage win and the race lead.
Dropped with 1.3 kilometres to go on when Vlasov launched his stinging attack, Evenepoel briefly attempted to stay in contention on a climb mixing a long, rocky gravel section and some lung-burstingly steep tarmacked slopes. But after leading the chasers off the sterrato, the young Belgian began to look increasingly unsteady and within seconds his other rivals like promising young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) had leapt ahead.
By the summit Evenepoel was eighth, shaking his head as he crossed the line and came to terms with his defeat.
"The best guy won today, I think that was quite clear. If you can ride away from the other riders, you are simply the best," Evenepoel said in a gracious recognition of his rival's strength.
"I think Aleksandr really deserved this victory. He also was close in the first stage" - where he was the rider who tracked Evenepoel the closest when the Belgian went away on the final climb - "so he's been a good level this week.
"I'm actually not disappointed with how it went, I actually felt quite good all day. But then towards the end of the gravel section, I started to feel the legs, they were getting full of lactate. I think the race for me was one kilometre too long."
Indications that Evenepoel might struggle began when he slid backwards in the main group with about five kilometres to go when Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) launched a bold attack. Evenepoel regained contact but on the gravel section, a brief acceleration with 1.6 kilometres to go proved to be one of the last sparks in an already guttering candle.
Having criticised the sterrato before the race, Evenepoel once again took a swipe at the conditions - which organisers insisted to Cyclingnews they had improved since Remco did his reconnaissance in January - after riding it in anger.
"It's always special to have these gravel sections, but it was a bit on the limit. There were quite some [a few - Ed.] rocks. I think it was getting close to mountain biking.
"For such a hard climb, we don't need it. There is one race in the year that is known for its gravel, which is Strade Bianche but on a finish like this, it makes it even harder.
"It would have been the same if we'd gone up a normal road. I understand if they want to try something new but I think the race didn't need this gravel section to be harder."
Evenepoel later doubled down on his criticisms, saying "a big chapeau to the organisation for making such a beautiful race.
"But then when they send you on small roads and they say all the loose stones are gone and you see only loose stones, it's a pity. The race was so hard it didn't need this gravel sector."
While off-road sections are getting increasingly popular in bike racing, Evenepoel said it was not necessarily meeting with a widespread thumbs up in the peloton.
"Sometimes in the teams and in the bunch, there is frustration that we go on such small roads that are, I'm not going to say dangerous, but you cannot win something with it, but you can lose it. You can have a flat tyre so it's always a risk.
"But that's not why I lost time. Aleksandr was the strongest. And I have to say thank you to my team because they did an amazing job."
On the plus side, despite his time losses, the Belgian remains in second overall and still leading the best young rider classification.
Although promising young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) is now just four seconds behind with just two flat stages remaining, most likely the general classification will stay unchanged until Sunday.
"Second in such a hard race is still very good," Evenepoel insisted. "I always need some races to get in the best shape and now I'll be going full-on for Fabio [Jakobsen, team sprinter and stage 2 winner - Ed.].
"We did everything necessary, on a climb like that the lightweight climbers always have an advantage," team Sports Director Rik Van Slycke pointed out. "We knew that already. On such a steep climb, every half kilo counts.
"For sure Vlasov was better. It is what it is. If it had been less steep, more rolling then maybe…but it's the third day of competition, we'll react and analyse what's going on. But it's not bad, either, it's not like he was dropped 50 kilometres from the finish or lost two minutes.
"Everybody went at their maximum and it is what it is."
