At the Vuelta a España stage 13 summit of the Col du Tourmalet on Friday evening, the protocol ceremonies were all but winding down and the crowds were beginning to move away when a group of nine riders passed behind the line of photographers and the winners’ podium.
Amongst them were four Soudal-Quick Step riders, and one former overall contwnder: Remco Evenepoel.
Evenepoel and his team did not need the booming commentaries of the Vuelta podium speakers congratulating the winners and jersey holders to tell them what they already knew. Evenepoel finished more than 27 minutes down – and within 10 minutes of the time cut for the stage.
The day started to unravel badly for Remco Evenepoel on the first major climb of the day, the Col d'Aubisque, where he was dropped alongside fellow GC hopeful João Almeida (UAE Emirates).
Over the 90km slog left to the finish, Almeida fared better, managing to limit his losses to just under seven minutes. But for Evenepoel, the situation was impossible to save.
After his bitter exit from the Giro d'Italia after catching COVID-19 while leading the race, his attempted fightback and defence of his 2022 Vuelta title had proved to be impossible
In the mish-mash of team cars some 300 metres on from the summit, Soudal-QuickStep did their best to give their defeated leader and his teammates some kind of protection from everyone who waited for Evenepoel to arrive.
Barriers were placed between two team cars to create a camera and microphone-free zone, opening only for the riders to wheel their bikes inside, receive some warm clothing and a first recovery drink, before heading down the mountain road to the team buses, waiting some four kilometres below.
Evenepoel's face, like that of his teammates, was drawn and tired from the effort of more than 4,000 metres of climbing in just 134 kilometres. He quickly spoke to team staff, one of whom helped him don a Belgian national champion's rain jacket, and after just a couple of minutes inside the Soudal-QuickStep compound, he was ready to go.
One shouted comment or question from a journalist in Flemish was resolutely ignored, but then the makeshift barrier opened and the Belgian champion rode through away from the race, his descent initially traceable thanks to a smattering of applause from fans further down the mountainside as they saw him pedal past.
'We're trying to turn the switch and go for stage wins'
Stage 13 was the first time in this year's Vuelta that Evenepoel hadn't spoken after a finish. It was left to his teammates and directeurs sportifs to offer some limited explanations as to what had happened.
"A bad day in such a stage is difficult," teammate Pieter Serry told Sporza. "We fought, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. He just said 'sorry'.
"What should he also say? There is no shame. We have done our best. Just because it doesn't work today doesn't mean it won't work in the future. We're trying to turn the switch and go for stage wins. Remco was not in a good place today and we had to take it easy," he concluded.
A statement from Soudal-QuickStep provided the key explanation everyone were looking for.
"Not much can be said about this stage. It was just a bad day for Remco – he was not sick or injured," said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
"It's unfortunate and it can happen. Cycling is not racing on a simulator and we are all human beings. We will sit down as a team tonight, assess what happened and look at our goals for the rest of the race."
Evenepoel later said via Instagram: "It was just one of those days where my tank was empty.
"We gave it everything and I have no regrets. I want to thank my teammates who stayed with me the whole day and left everything out there for me. We will discuss and look at where we go from here for the rest of La Vuelta."
At the end of the day, one part of Evenepoel's prediction for the stage did prove to be 100% correct.
"It'll be all about the legs," he said the previous day when asked what would happen on the toughest Pyrenean stage of this year's Vuelta. But as Lodewyck pointed out, a bad day can happen to anyone.
How fast Evenepoel can bounce back from such a difficult defeat remains to be seen, though and whether he will now look for stage wins in the Vuelta is just one question that needs to be resolved. But either way, the events of stage 13 will not be easily forgotten.
