“There’s a question mark” was how Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) succinctly described his current ability to tackle ultra-steep slopes - those of the kind that on Friday poleaxed his bid to become the first Belgian to win the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana since Eddy Merckx in 1969.
That said, second overall for Evenepoel in Valenciana, in what is his first stage race of the season, along with two days in the lead, a stage win and the Best Young Rider’s jersey to boot was hardly a poor series of results for the 22-year-old. And it was impossible to ignore his exceptionally strong support role for teammate Fabio Jakobsen in the Valenciana sprints, too.
Yet after losing the lead and the race to Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) on the difficult Antenas de Maigmo ascent on Friday, Evenepoel also recognised when it comes to riding on the hardest of climbs, he has yet to establish what his true level of performance is.
“I’ve had some difficulties on such climbs already, ” Evenepoel told journalists after the finish in Valencia, where he had once again helped teammate Jakobsen claim the victory, the Dutchman’s second in four days.
“Take the Zoncolan” - in the Giro d’Italia last year - “for example. I was up there with the rest until the hardest part of all. So there are question marks.
“But I think I showed the team I am useful in other areas. Like in the lead-out, I’ve done that three times here and we’ve won twice.
“But we still have work to do about those steep slopes, because they will be a key part of races like Pais Vasco” - La Itzulia, where Evenepoel is due to race this April - “and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, too.”
In his defence, Evenepoel pointed out, too, that he has yet to hit top form, unlike Vlasov is already, and that too could make a difference on the toughest climbs. The Russian is heading to the UAE Tour next week, and as Evenepoel said, “if you want to beat [Tadej] Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), you have to be in your best shape.”
For now, he said, “I think I just have to accept what happened this week. I was able to keep up with the rest up to one kilometre to go. There’s no shame in that.”
Overall, he said, his week in Valenciana had gone very well, barring the one difficult day at Antenas de Maigmó. For one thing, the competition was fiercer than other races like San Juan, he pointed out, referring the South American stage race where Evenepoel won two years ago - and which he was due to race this week again, until it was cancelled. Instead, he lined up for Valenciana.
Regarding the race, he argued, “It's been a perfect start for me. It's always a bit of a shame when we lost the yellow leader's jersey one kilometre from the finish and then there was the sprint we didn’t get on Saturday, too.
“But overall I think the team deserves a nine out of ten. We got three stages out of a possible five, and second in the GC standings and the BYR jersey and the points jersey for Fabio too.
“For the results: eight out of ten. For the work I've done for Fabio: maybe nine out of ten. Yesterday [Saturday] it was a chaotic finish and we lost the sprint due to minor details. Today we did our job perfectly. I think we reacted well to yesterday's [Saturday’s] mistakes.”
Asked about why he preferred to work for Jakobsen in the bunch sprints rather than stay out of the leading positions in the finales as most GC racers do, Evenepel answered simply and directly, “I prefer it. When you’ve got the best sprinter and lead-out man in the world, then that’s always extra motivation.
“We did it perfectly today, Mattia [Cattaneo] and Josef [Czerny] kept the break well under control and my task was to lead the bunch into the finish. When I saw we had the first three guys going into that last roundabout, then you know you’ve got nine chances out of ten of winning.”
After Valenciana, Evenepoel goes on to race in the Volta ao Algarve, where he won the overall and took two stages in 2020 - and where Jakobsen won a stage that year, too.
