Tour de Suisse worked wonders for Remco Evenepoel, after all he won the final time trial. This was meant to be a good warm up before Vuelta a España starts and he even learned some lessons as he ended up at the overall 11th place in the general classification. This ranking allows him to work on his errors and be in better form for the upcoming events.
Naturally, Remco was among the favorites to win the race, it was apparent when he made his debut. Although stage 5 turned out to be worse than previously anticipated and that made things very difficult for him. Remco reflected back to the race:
I learned a lot this week, including on the stage where I lost two minutes. That was really a complete off day for me, physically but also tactically. As a team, we just didn’t have the ‘balls,’ if I can say it like this, to take the responsibility to take the race in our hands and just give the maximum to win or even just to stay up there with the big guns.
That’s what we’re going to take into the future, that we have to be awake on local laps like that. If that doesn’t happen, then I probably finish on the podium of the GC, but that’s life. I will take it with me into the future and towards the Vuelta.
Due to his performance during the last days of the Tour, Remco Evenepoel improved his standings. Sunday’s time trial worked out well for him as he finished at the overall 11th place and this was behind the winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers).
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Although the 25.6km race in Vaduz was not that hard, it was the duel between Thomas and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) that made things worse for Remco. Although the competition was tough, he still emerged victorious as he gained a total of ten seconds over his rivals.
No matter how the race turned out, Evenepoel had nothing but respect for his fellow rivals. He reflected back on the race:
I had a pace plan that I couldn’t keep up with in this heat, but I was still able to keep quite a hard and even power, and I think that’s what made me win this time trial.
I’m surprised and amazed by how Geraint is riding at the moment, I think he’s going to be really ready for the Tour. He looks very good. He looks really strong. I’m just proud to be able to win from a guy like him, he’s a big idol for me.
Remco Evenepoel learned some big lessons from the final time trial and his Tour de Suisse debut. Keeping in mind these lessons Evenepoel will now be heading to Belgian Championships from next week. After that, it will be a sabbatical till the Vuelta starts.
Apart from the Clásica San Sebastian from July 30, he won’t be attending any other race. Let’s see how that goes for the young champion.
I will go to San Sebastian and try to take another win there [after 2019 – ed.], but then I probably don’t race again until the Vuelta, because I feel I perform better when I’m really fresh at the start of the race.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/Cycling Pro Net
