"He hit a pothole and hand slipped off his handle bars": DS explains what caused Remco Evenepoel's strange fall

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.

"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.

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.