Evenepoel shows good signs on opening day despite having "done very long turns"

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team and Remco Evenepoel have had a strong opening day at the Vuelta a Espana, however the ambitions were higher in the roads of Utrecht.

“Jumbo-Visma's weight is on average ten kilos higher, so I think I can be proud of all the boys. We divided it up well and had a weak moment after the intermediate point. We lost a little too much time there compared to INEOS Grenadiers, but third at 14 seconds is very good," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl were one of the three favourite teams for the day, and they arrived third, 14 seconds back on Jumbo-Visma.

This was a gain on several rivals for Evenepoel, a day that has been saved aswell with no mishaps to open the race with. “We said last minute that if I was the strongest, then I had to keep riding full for the last half kilometre. I have done very long turns, usually of a kilometer. That was necessary to keep the speed really high," he detailed.

"We had come up with something if I had red to hand it over to a teammate tomorrow in the sprint. But we had no reason to think because we could hardly finish next to each other," Evenepoel said. The stage win was a goal for the team, it hasn't worked, and the red jersey is now also relatively far away for the Belgian. “It's not about the red, but about the stage win I wanted with the team. In the case of not winning, it was to take time on the competition. Then 14 seconds is not extremely much, other teams are in a worse position," the Belgian prodigy explained.

"Now it's focusing on stage wins, although I have to get through the next two days first. Then it is the real Vuelta that starts," he previews. "Let's say it's better that Jumbo-Visma got over it with 14 seconds. That was different to have won INEOS by a small difference".