"I did not want to get fully involved in the sprint" - Remco Evenepoel takes no risks on stage 2 of Criterium du Dauphine 2024

In a thrilling finale to stage 2 of the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine, Soudal - Quick-Step leader Remco Evenepoel was notable by his absence as Magnus Cort Nielsen sprinted to victory ahead of Primoz Roglic and Matteo Jorgenson.

"I did not want to get fully involved in the sprint because Cort and Roglic were still present. Taking risks would not be wise in view of Tuesday's stage," reflects Evenepoel in a post-stage interview with In de Leiderstrui having rolled across the line in 27th position. "That will be a tough stage, so it is important that we can recover sufficiently towards that stage."

Evenepoel was very honest in his ambitions ahead of this year's Criterium du Dauphine, noting how in his first race back from injury just getting some racing into his legs was the most important thing ahead of his hotly-anticipated Tour de France debut later in the summer. It seems, with two stages now in the legs, those relatively modest goals have yet to change.

"I felt okay on the bike. It was pretty brisk, so it resulted in a fast stage," Evenepoel continues. "We were always with a tailwind. But so the feeling was pretty okay. I didn't get dropped, so that's positive. Of course, stages like this are not yet comparable to those at the end of this week. This was just a relatively easy hill stage."