"He hit a pothole and hand slipped off his handle bars": DS explains what caused Remco Evenepoel's strange fall
Cycling
The third stage of Volta a Catalunya seemed like a regular sprint of slightly more versatile sprinters, however a daring attack of Remco Evenepoel followed by Jonas Vingegaard nearly stole the spotlight from fast men. Ultimately, poor cooperation would put a bitter ending to the day with finish line in sight. However Evenepoel added an even harder blow to the disappointment by crashing in the last kilometer. What happened there?
According to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe sports director Klaas Lodewyck, the crash was not caused by contact or a typical racing incident. "He went off the brake hoods and tried to take the handlebar from below. Then he hit a hole in the road and slipped off his bars," Lodewyck explained to Sporza.
"His front wheel moved away slightly and he no longer had control of the bike," he added, describing a moment that appeared to catch the rider completely off guard.
Accompanied by young Luke Tuckwell, Evenepoel crawled across the finish line on his own, two minutes after the stage winner Dorian Godon. The Belgian was however bruised up and bleeding from his left elbow.
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Will we see Remco on the start tomorrow?
"The doctor is checking him now. From here it is day by day," Lodewyck said. "First we need to see how he gets through the night."
A first battle between GC contenders was predicted for Thursday with a finish in ski resort Vallter 2000, but fortunately for Evenepoel, the summit finish is being cancelled due to extremely strong wind gusts, leaving the Belgian rider with an extra day of recuperation. He'll need it for the last three stages of this year's Catalunya.

Dorian Godon beats Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock to stage 1 sprint win at 2026 Volta a Catalunya
A lot in play
Stage 5 will finish on the endless Coll de Pal after a day with over 4.500 meters of climbing. The very next day presents riders with the extremely steep Coll de Pradell and another day with close to 4.000 meters of climbing. If there's still anything to fight for in the general classification at this point, the chaotic stage in Barcelona featuring the Montjuïc climb can shake up the standings.
Remco Evenepoel will most certainly need every ounce of strength he can gather, if he aims to compete for the overall triumph with Jonas Vingegaard in these three stages.
But in case he's not cleared to race, it might just be better to call it quits and rest before Ardennes. After all, the Spanish stage race is not the pinnacle of Evenepoel's season - that'd be the Tour de France where Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe expects it's newest star acquisition to challenge the four-time champion Tadej Pogacar.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Great win.However will the world champions jersey be simply a domestic for the season which will some what tarnish the jersey. I hope he is given free rein to try and win some races.paultryan200206-11-2026
- Gretsky wow how old are you lol. Classy sportman though.🤣🤣🤣🤣 Hope it is a good as the one they made on Mark Cavendish.paultryan200206-11-2026
- Literally the perfect RedBull athlete.anonymouscyclist06-11-2026
- And well understood in the CX community.anonymouscyclist06-11-2026
- "Anatomy of a G.O.A.T." OK, that's great!!! I've been saying all along: Tadej Pogačar-Pogi is the G.O.A.T... period. Not only in cycling... but he's the greatest sportsman that ever lived !!! But let's take a look of what real foolishness is. We have many many fools, also on this site, saying that Pogi is "boring,"... he's making cycling "boring"??? I can't believe what's comming out of their deteriorating bad breath mouths. So I guess Merckx, Hinault, Indurain, Fasto Coppi and Anquetil were also boring at their time!?!? I guess Michael Jordan, Le Bron, Gretzky, Messi, Ronaldo, Shumacher, Novak Džoković, Federer, Rossi, Marquez, Phelps, Michaela Shiffrin, Venus Williams, Bolt, Lewis Hamilton... etc. were all boring. PS: Many cycling fans that think that way, have to get a brain scan. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans06-11-2026
- ridiculous. a normal racing incident. how lame do you have to be to complain about that?Ketterechts06-11-2026
- Rubbing is racing.
santiagobenites06-11-2026 - Throws an elbow, but crashes afterwards and he's upset.
Front24206-11-2026 - There should be nothing but praise for them: 1. Trying to make things safer, and 2. Trying something "new".acem8206-11-2026
- And a bit of a malcontent on top of it all that doesn’t help.mij06-11-2026
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