We’re not crying, you are… #LaVuelta23
"I can be very proud of this answer" - Remco Evenepoel takes emotional at Vuelta 24 hours following GC collapse
CyclingSunday, 10 September 2023 at 10:32
On stage 13 Remco Evenepoel's Vuelta a Espana seemed to have been brought to a halt, having a bad day with no legs, dropping out of GC, shedding tears and pondering leaving the race. This afternoon he jumped into the day's breakaway and took a meaningful win on the final stage in the Pyrenees.
"Yesterday was hard, even in the evening. I couldn't sleep much and I had a bad night with a lot of negative thoughts. But this morning I got up and thought 'I'm going for it and I'm going to make the best of it'," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. "I had explored this stage and I knew perfectly what the climbs would be like. It's great to win again. I felt good and I was involved in all the attacks. Teammate Mattia Cattaneo joined in and he did well on the first climb," is the praise of the 23-year-old Belgian.
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Evenepoel made it clear from early on that he was interested in a breakaway, joining a very large group eventually which built it's gap before the first ascent of the day. Evenepoel broke clear of the group together with Romain Bardet at the top of the first one. "Eventually I managed to escape with Bardet. We worked well together: I set the pace on the climbs and he would ride along on the flat," he said.
With the peloton racing up the Port de Larray but failing to cut the gap, the stage win was to play for in front. Evenepoel looked back to his best legs. Despite a strong competition from Bardet, Evenepoel's pace ended up being too high in the final climb and he just rode away from the Frenchman, taking a victory that was important to regains his confidence. "It was a bit of a gamble after that, but I can be very proud of this answer," he concluded.
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