"If you fall, it's your own fault" - Remco Evenepoel only blames himself for Itzulia Basque Country time-trial crash
Cycling
Itzulia Basque Country began with an explosive time-trial, Remco Evenepoel felt the consequences of the technical course and hit the deck, but still managed to gain time on the likes of Jonas Vingegaard and Juan Ayuso despite that.
“I just slipped away. In the images we see a grille, which makes it look as if my wheel is sliding away. But it happened so quickly. I don't think I took too many risks, but in ten kilometers you want to get through the bends as quickly as possible," Evenepoel shared with Sporza. "It's not a steering error, maybe I just threw myself a little too much in the corners and that's why my front wheel was gone. It wasn't too dangerous, no. There were other options, but I'm not the course designer. And you take risks yourself. If you fall, it's your own fault. It was my own fault. In such a time trial, winning is difficult if the top favorite does not make any mistakes.”
Evenepoel's effort was marked by the fall within the first seconds of racing. It was a visibly frustrating moment for the Soudal - Quick-Step rider who was the main favourite to win on the day. Still, even with his best performance and on an even field, he did not have better legs than Primoz Roglic on the day, who took 11 seconds out of the time-trial World Champion despite himself missing the final corner. Evenepoel rode to fourth on the hilly TT also behind Jay Vine and Mattias Skjelmose, but gained 4 seconds on the unscathed Vingegaard and 5 on Juan Ayuso who won the Tirreno-Adriatico time-trial.
“I looked at it: I stand still for 13 seconds and before you get back up to speed, you have lost 20 seconds. That's the difference between profit and loss. A win would have been possible, but that's easy to say in retrospect," he says. "I shouldn't have fallen if I wanted to win. In general I am very satisfied with the feeling. I could have dropped my head and I could have lost a minute, but I overtake Sepp Kuss and I ride a good time trial. On to tomorrow.”
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Remco is 👍 after slipping in the opening part of the #Itzulia2024 ITT, which makes his result at the finish even more impressive 👊
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