"Big tactical mistake" possibly costs Remco Evenepoel Paris-Nice victory

Remco Evenepoel lost 52 seconds to the trio of Matteo Jorgenson, Brandon McNulty and Mattias Skjelmose today at Paris-Nice. This can prove deadly for his GC ambitions, with the Belgian champion admitting a tactical mistake following the stage.

“It was a tough day. It initially took a very long time before the breakaway could ride away. I actually felt really good," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. However sometimes that is not enough. Primoz Roglic attacked on the steep climb that marked the day, but the gaps were not tremendous behind. The race then got very tactical, with Matteo Jorgenson getting a sizeable gap. At a certain moment Mattias Skjelmose and Brandon McNulty also rode off without a response, and this was the moment that market the stage and possibly the final overall classification of the race; as the trio took 52 seconds (plus bonifications) on Evenepoel.

"Maybe I gambled too much on the steep climb. Perhaps I could respond to Matteo Jorgenson's attack. I made a small tactical mistake. No, a big tactical mistake,” he admits in the microphone of Sporza. “In the end they reached the top with three. Then they looked at me and Primoz Roglic, which makes sense. We lost a lot of time on that spur."

"That's the race. Maybe next time I shouldn't think so much and just follow the feeling and the legs," he concluded. Evenepoel did a lot of the chasing in the group behind but there was little rhythm in what was still a sizeable group. In the final sprint he impressive led out the rest and still dropped his competitors, but that was only a small detail to end the day. Evenepoel will go into stage 7 in fifth place, 1:03 minutes behind race leader Brandon McNulty.