Remco Evenepoel conceded the overall lead at the Critérium du Dauphiné after struggling on the final climb to Le Collet d'Allevard on stage 6, but he insisted that his performance was no cause for panic with over three weeks left until the Tour de France.
The Belgian was distanced under pressure from Bora-Hansgrohe on the upper reaches of the hors categorie climb, where Primož Roglič powered to stage victory. Evenepoel rallied slightly in the final kilometre, but he still had to settle for eighth on the stage, some 42 seconds down on the Slovenian. He dropped to second overall, 19 seconds behind Roglič.
“In the valley towards the final climb, I really felt the legs were getting heavy, so I knew it was going to be difficult for me to follow the best for sure,” Evenepoel told CyclingPro afterwards. “Then after 4 or 5km on the climb, I said in the radio that I was not feeling fresh anymore.”
Evenepoel was unable to follow when Roglič bridged across to a move that already featured Bora-Hansgrohe lieutenant Aleksandr Vlasov. The Soudal-QuickStep rider was joined by his teammate Mikel Landa as he fought to limit his losses, before he launched an acceleration of his own in the final kilometre.
“I needed to search for my own rhythm,” Evenepoel said. “I said to Mikel that he could go for his own chance but then he came back quite quickly so he tried to guide me towards the last kilometre and then I just went a good 2, 2.5km all-out to limit the time loss. But I think this is what we could have expected – that I’m just not at my best yet, that I still need lots of time to improve.”
The Dauphiné marked Evenepoel’s return to competition after he fractured his shoulder in the mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country that also saw involved Roglič and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard.
Evenepoel began the Dauphiné adamant that his focus was squarely on building form for his Tour de France debut in July, but his emphatic victory in the time trial to Neulise on Wednesday put him into the yellow jersey with a lead of half a minute over Roglič.
The 24-year-old endured a scare on Thursday, when he was among the many fallers in the mass crash that caused the neutralisation of stage 5 to Saint-Priest. Although he fell on his head and shoulder, Evenepoel downplayed the impact of that crash on his performance here.
“It's just a small injury, a small bruise, but nothing crazy. I’m not going to blame the shoulder for the time loss of today,” Evenepoel smiled. “I think that’s life, that’s part of my way back to my top level, which is clearly not there yet. We still have lots of time and no reasons to panic.”
Instead, Evenepoel struck an upbeat note, insisting that his form remains in crescendo as he builds towards the Grand Départ in Florence on June 29.
“We’re on a good way for sure because two weeks ago in Sierra Nevada, I couldn’t push the numbers we did today even for ten minutes,” Evenepoel said. “In the end, for me it’s a positive day, even though I lost some time. That’s not the most important thing we have to take from today.”
Evenepoel expanded on that thought when he spoke with Het Nieuwsblad after the stage.
“Am I shocked? No, not at all,” he said of his time loss. “I knew this and have been saying this for a whole week, but apparently it's not getting through: I’m not here to win the Dauphiné, but to improve.
“It has now become clear that I am not yet good enough to follow the best. I'm here to test my limits. That’s working, but there is clearly still work to be done. I really struggled in the last kilometre, but that's why I'm here: to raise my level and get the most out of it without being completely exhausted.”
Despite the setback, Evenepoel remains in contention for overall victory at the Dauphiné, even if Roglič’s display on Friday indicates he is the favourite on the remaining two summit finishes at Samoëns 1600 and the Plateau des Glières.
“It will be very difficult to beat Primož,” Evenepoel said. “But we’ll just fight and see where the ship ends up on Sunday. You have to stay calm.”
