Remco Evenepoel looked to be missing climbing capacity before the Tour de France but has reached his best level at the perfect time. The Belgian rider has ridden superbly up the Col du Galibier and is in fact Tadej Pogacar's closest rival in the overall classification after stage 4.
Soudal - Quick-Step did not commit men to work this Tuesday and only had to follow wheels. But he did so at the level he hoped for, going through the summit of the Alpine ascent in third place around 10 seconds back on Pogacar and only a few less on Vingegaard. In the descent he struggled and lost positions, but was ultimately in the chasing group and then sprinted to second on the day - taking a few bonus seconds on Jonas Vingegaard but even some seconds on the road.
"It is always positive to finish second behind the best rider in the world. I have no complaints about our strategy or the course of the race. It was a good day for us," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. “Once you are above 2000 metres you feel that it is more difficult to respond to accelerations. It was a very strong attack by Tadej. I tried to keep up, but that was a bit above my level.”
“After that I went down as quickly as possible. However, there were a few wet bends in the descent. I slipped a few times. I have to be honest: I almost fell," Evenepoel admits. "I lost some confidence that way and the chasers came back. I felt good in general. I also won the sprint for second place in the end. That is nice. We can be satisfied.” At the end of the day Evenepoel sits second in the GC, 45 seconds down on Pogacar and 5 seconds ahead of Vingegaard.
“I knew that I had to be ready for the first four stages. Those are important stages right away. The form is good, but I am not 100% yet," Evenepoel states actually. Mikel Landa follows on his tracks, currently 7th in the overall classification - both having overcome injuries suffered at Itzulia Basque Country.
"We can talk about a good start for me and the team. We have to build on it now and hope for even better legs. For example on day seven, in the first time trial. The goal is still to ride top-5 in the classification and win a stage. But if we come close to the podium later in the Tour, then we will go for it. We are in a good position, but the Tour is still long.”
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