"At the foot of the climb, I already had cramps coming" - Remco Evenepoel explains disastrous off day at Jebel Mobrah

The heat and the brutality of the climb to Jebel Mobrah was expected to make victims today at the UAE Tour, but few would've expected it to be Remco Evenepoel, who had shown his best legs the day prior and entered the queen stage in the race lead.

The Belgian put on staggering climbing performances at the Challenge Mallorca and Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, beating men he was comfortably dropped by today inclusively. Evenepoel had a bad day on the bike, something which will be a cause for concern, specially as it has happened before as well on crucial days.

The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider had a strong time trial and entered stage 3 as the race leader and man to beat. And as Felix Gall attacked the start of the final climb, Evenepoel was one of the first to react. However, he soon began to get dropped by his peers, and he was close to cramping on the very steep gradients.

"At the foot of the climb, I already had cramps coming on. Something I haven't experienced very often. Maybe from that effort yesterday, which I hadn't fully absorbed," Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad.

He had to slow down his pace, and never again had the legs on the climb. "When I had to drop them, I had a really bad kilometer, but afterward, I managed to pull through. I often have that at the start of the season on climbs like this: I have a bit of a rough patch. But my legs weren't feeling good today anyway."

It was a disaster for Evenepoel, who lost almost two minutes to surprise winner Antonio Tiberi, and dropped out of the Top10 in the overall classification. It was the product of several factors, but all-in-all a poor performance that didn't match his expectations.

"I definitely kept drinking. I don't think I digested yesterday's effort at all. I didn't have the best night either; I woke up from the heat. But ultimately, I can't make excuses," he admits. The overall win off the table, although he does not say it.

He can jump back into the Top10, but the priority will most definitely be seeking a stage win on Jebel Hafeet, where it will be important for him to perform in order to get some of the confidence he lost today back. "Is the general classification gone here? I think I'm a minute and a half behind. I might still be able to pull something off to go for the stage win on Saturday."