Aleksandr Vlasov comments Remco Evenepoel's abandon: "This will change the momentum of the race"

Aleksandr Vlasov, the Russian rider of BORA - hansgrohe, spoke during the rest day of Giro d'Italia after finishing stage 9's individual time trial in 8th position. He is now 6th overall, 1:03 behind the new leader of this Giro d'Italia, the Welshman Geraint Thomas from INEOS Grenadiers.

Just like everyone else, Vlasov is shocked by the abandon of Remco Evenepoel, who leaves the race due to Covid, while wearing the Maglia Rosa. "Obviously, he was one of the favorites. This will inevitably change the momentum of the race. There are strong teams like UAE and Bahrain, who suddenly have a good shot at nice result," he said.

Aleksandr Vlasov also spoke about his own ambitions as he currently sits 6th overall: "I'm pretty happy. In the first week, I'm in the top 10. I lost a little over a minute but it's ok. Now it's seconds, but in the third week it will be more minutes I think! I think I did a good time trial yesterday, I didn't lose a lot of time, so it's is a good result for me," he explained.

The abandon of Remco Evenepoel having reshuffled the cards for the rest of the Giro, Aleksandr Vlasov hopes to progress in the general classification, alongside Lennard Kämna. "I was perhaps a little behind until now. But I think that in the high mountains, it will be different. I hope so. I feel better than at the start of the race, so I hope to be competitive. Almeida is also very strong, in addition to Roglic and INEOS, he is also going to be an important competitor," concluded the BORA - hansgrohe leader.