In the past, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has been a force to be reckoned with in uphill sprints like stage 3 of the Tour de France, but on this occasion the Belgian took something of a back seat as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) blasted away for victory at Les Angles. However, he wasn't disappointed - far from it.
Evenepoel finished eighth on the stage, four seconds behind the stage winner and new yellow jersey of the Tour, but he was satisfied nonetheless with his performance, which have seen him remain third overall on GC.
"I could ride very fast, but I lacked that extra punch," Evenepoel said in post-stage comments reported by Nieuwsblad.
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“It was a long and hot day with a lot of climbing. It took a long time for the breakaway to get away, and then there was a tough final climb of almost two kilometers. Overall, I am satisfied.”
The Belgian has won some uphill mountain sprints in his time, like back in the 2023 UAE Tour at Jebel Jais when, even if the stage had already been taken by Einer Rubio in a solo move, Evenepoel soundly out-powered the remainder of the peloton some 15 seconds later to move into the overall lead. Then on Sunday in Montjuic, he was very much best of the rest behind UAE Team Emirates duo Pogačar and Isaac del Toro.
This time round, though, he was not in contention, but as Evenepoel said, that was only to be expected after a long time away from racing. Evenepoel spent over two months out of competition after finishing third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and he argued the lack of racing was visible in high-powered sprints like the one that decided Monday's stage.
“On the final climb, I felt that I was past my best. I just had to follow and then ride to the finish line as fast as possible. It’s not a bad feeling, but that extra punch isn't there yet, due to having been out of competition for so long," he told Nieuwsblad.
Evenepoel explained that the effort was very different to the uphill battle at Montjuic that decided stage 2, which was a 700-metre drive to the line. That was not a sprint, he said, whereas on stage 3, a much more explosive effort, it was not.
As a result, whilst on Montjuic he was third on the stage and right behind Pogačar, Del Toro and ahead of Vingegaard, 24 hours later it was a different story.
Evenepoel said he was still happy with the standings, given he's just 23 seconds down and very much in the GC running. He also paid tribute to Pogačar's strategy of grabbing all the wins he can.
"As Tadej said in his flash interview, if you can win, you have to do it. The team deserved it. They took control of the race," he said.
Concluding about his own condition, he said, "Personally, I am satisfied."
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