“If I don’t leave the gap, maybe I win” – Remco Evenepoel rues Barcelona gamble after near miss on stage 2 of 2026 Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel admitted a late tactical gamble may have cost him victory on stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France, after the Belgian finished third behind Isaac del Toro and Tadej Pogacar in Barcelona.

The Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe leader came across the line at the Olympic Stadium on the same time as the UAE Team Emirates – XRG duo, with Del Toro taking the stage win after Pogacar allowed his teammate to cross first. Evenepoel had been close enough to challenge, but his decision to leave a small gap in the final corner did not produce the slingshot he had hoped for.

“A shame to come so close,” Evenepoel said in his first reaction to the Flemish press at the team bus.

The Belgian still took positives from the way he had followed the decisive move, especially after UAE took control of the finale on the Montjuic circuit. “It was nice to see how they did it,” he said. “They took control. It is a deserved victory for UAE. I was able to watch it from the front row, and not from 50 metres away. That is positive.”

The decisive difference came after the descent and into the final run towards the Olympic Stadium. Evenepoel chose not to close immediately, hoping Del Toro and Pogacar would lose speed before he launched from behind.

Instead, Del Toro kept driving, Pogacar stayed on his wheel, and the UAE pair carried enough momentum to stay clear. “There was a tactic to leave a small gap in the final corner, then hope they lost a little bit of speed and come from behind,” Evenepoel explained. “But Del Toro and Pogacar had the tactic to keep going all the way to the line. So it became a one-minute effort. It is a shame that I only just got onto the wheel. It is a little gamble I took, and today unfortunately it was not the right one.”

Evenepoel did not sound crushed by the decision, but he was clear that the same finale could have produced a different result. “If they stall, I can jump from behind and maybe I win,” he said. “If I don’t leave the gap, maybe I win.”

Despite missing out on the stage, Evenepoel left Barcelona in a strong position. He finished with Del Toro, Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, moving to third overall, 15 seconds behind the yellow jersey. “It was a tactic I had in my head with one lap to go,” Evenepoel said. “In the end it did not work out brilliantly, but overall I am positive.”

Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe also had Florian Lipowitz come home with the group of favourites, giving the team two riders safely through the first real GC selection of the race. Klaas Lodewyck was satisfied with what he saw from both of them. “We saw a very good Remco in a nice third place. Lipowitz comes in with the group of favourites, which is good,” Lodewyck reflected.

The team management also acknowledged the level shown by Del Toro and Pogacar, who completed UAE’s one-two after dominating the final kilometres. “They will be difficult opponents,” Lodewyck said. “It is not demotivating, it is good for cycling. I hope that sooner or later we can put our foot next to theirs.”

Evenepoel now sits third overall after two stages, behind Vingegaard and Pogacar, with the first direct exchange between the main GC names already logged before the Tour reaches France.