Evenepoel escapes to win stage 2 of Baloise Belgium Tour

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Young Belgian phenom Remco Evenepoel continued a string of impressive results, soloing in to victory and the race lead on stage 2 of the Baloise Belgium Tour. The Deceuninck-Quickstep rider escaped with Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) in the closing stages, but Campenaerts crashed in a narrow bend, leaving Evenepoel to tackle the last 9km alone.

For the double junior world champion, holding off the peloton was no problem, and 42 seconds after Evenepoel celebrated his stage win, his teammate Fabio Jakobsen led the peloton across the line ahead of Tim Merlier (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal).

Evenepoel now leads Jakobsen in the GC by 51 seconds with Merlier third on the same time.

"It's my first pro win and it really means a lot to me. When I crossed the finish line, I saw my parents and that was just so beautiful. For me it's very important that they were here and I could share this moment with them. It's incredible when you see the names here at the start, I never thought I could actually win my first race here, despite bringing a good form into the race", Evenepoel said.

On a 180km-long stage that featured some of the cobbled climbs of the Classics, including the Muur-Kapelmuur, Evenepoel made a leading split on the first of two closing circuits with around 20 riders.

Evenepoel attacked with Campenaerts, opening a 20-second lead with 10 kilometers to go, and after Campenaerts crashed, the 19-year-old continued to build on his advantage.

"The harder the race was, the better I felt, so I tried to save my legs as much as possible during the stage, especially as I knew I could do something in the finale. That's what I did on the penultimate climb and I felt it was the perfect moment, as behind me they had some doubts and were looking at each other. Having done a recon last week, I knew the parcours and I pushed hard going into the corners as the kilometers ticked down."

Now with a 51 second lead in the general classification and a 9.2km individual time trial around Grimbergen ahead, Evenepoel is not yet focusing on winning the overall.

"The race is far from being over and I really don't think about the GC. I just want to enjoy this moment together with the team. Thirteen is supposed to mean bad luck, but surely, not for me. I love this number, it's my lucky number and winning on June 13 with bib number 13 on my back and on home turf makes it even more special", he said.

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