Remco Evenepoel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. When the Belgian and his QuickStep-AlphaVinyl squad recently went to ride up the Alto Antenas del Maigmó Tibi, they assumed the rock-strewn track they encountered couldn’t possibly be the site of the finale of stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
Rather than risk their rims, they found another, smoother route to the summit only to discover subsequently that the satellite navigation system hadn’t led them astray after all. The road book and local riders confirmed that the finale is indeed on the that steep, 3km sector of dirt road.
"We didn’t believe we were going to turn into such a bad gravel road with some really big rocks, so we thought it was a mistake in the GPS, but it doesn’t look like it was a mistake. We’ll have a nice mountain bike stage…" Evenepoel told reporters in a video conference on Tuesday.
"We saw the top of the mountain, but not from the right side. Still, I think for sure on the third stage there will be an explosion in the bunch. There will be some nice time splits between the GC riders."
Last May, Evenepoel’s Giro d’Italia challenge began to fray on the dirt roads around Montalcino, but Friday’s finale has rather more in common with the Campo Felice summit finish from a few days earlier, where the youngster was among the strongest performers.
Whatever the state of the surface beneath his wheels, Evenepoel will expect to be among the strongest performers on the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana’s pivotal stage.
"I think it’s different when it’s at the end of the race, especially when it’s 3k and quite steep," Evenpoel said. "There’s always something special and some spectacular finishes in Spain, and here I think they want to make it even more spectacular."
The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana marks Evenepoel’s first race of 2022 after the Vuelta a San Juan, his planned seasonal debut, was cancelled due to the effects of the omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two years ago, Evenepoel hit the ground running with overall victories in both San Juan and the Volta ao Algarve, but he downplayed the prospect of achieving something similar in Valencia, pointing to the lack of an individual time trial and the depth of the field. Rivals in Valencia this week will include Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas (Movistar), Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers).
Even so, Evenepoel knows that there is expectation every time he pins on a race number and, in his short and dramatic career to this point, he has rarely if ever competed simply to make up the numbers. He has a habit of making an impact, and he ought to be prominent on Wednesday’s opening stage, with its hilly finale Torralba del Mar.
"It’s going to be quite a specific GC race, with no time trial and not the longest climbs," Evenpoel said. "Of course I won’t panic if I leave this race without a win. I think my focus is a bit more on Algarve, and I’m just trying to get the race rhythm in the legs again this week.
"I think it will be hard. The first day is already an uphill finish, and that’s nice to open the lungs and the heart. I think the weather should be ok and that’s nice to look forward to as well. I’ve been following some of the races in Mallorca, and some guys are on already a high level.
"I think we can expect Movistar to be really strong. From my side, I just want to try to perform the best possible and then we’ll see how I respond in terms of results."
Maturity
Evenepoel only turned 22 last week, but this is already his fourth season as a professional. He garlanded his debut campaign with victory at the Clasica San Sebastian and the European time trial title, and he was in imperious form in his second, winning four stage races out of four in 2020 before his horrific crash at Il Lombardia ended his season in mid-August.
This time 12 months ago, Evenepoel was still in the midst of his long rehabilitation from those injuries, only returning to the fray at the Giro in May. Understandably, given the circumstances, Evenepoel faded after that race passed its midpoint, but he would produce remarkable feats of strength thereafter, including seven wins and all-action displays at both the European Championships and World Championships.
"This time last year, I wasn’t on the bike yet, I was just walking and swimming, so compared to last winter, I can be very happy with my preparation," he said. "I think that winning is always important for the team and me personally, but I’ll just give my best this week. If that leads to win, all the better, but if not, that’s life. You just turn your mind to the next race and the next opportunity."
Evenepoel’s 2022 season will encompass a debut in the Ardennes Classics and a tilt at the general classification of the Vuelta a España, and he acknowledged that racing in Spain was a useful exercise with that later objective in mind.
"The more races I do in Spain, the better it is for the preparation," he said. "And I’ve already won twice in Spain - at San Sebastian and Burgos - so it’s a country that I like."
Winner of 22 races in his professional career, Evenepoel seemed to arrive in the WorldTour already blessed with the physique and confidence of a far more experienced rider, but he conceded this winter that he felt he still had some maturing to do.
"Above all in some nervous moments, where my youth showed itself a bit, with some movements and words that weren’t necessary," Evenepoel said on Tuesday when asked to explain further.
"I tried to work on that over the winter, to be calmer, so that now, when I have moments when I’m nervous, I try not to react. That will help me in the race too, when I have moments of stress. It will help me to manage the situation a bit more easily than before."
