"It is unbelievable that we managed to win this stage" - Remco Evenepoel's GC stint at UAE Tour improves with TTT win

Soudal - Quick-Step began the day as some of the favourites to win the team time-trial at the UAE Tour, and they managed to take a tight win. The biggest winner from the day was perhaps Remco Evenepoel who gained further time on his GC competition.

“We did not expect that we would fall under EF's time. We were mainly concerned with the other classification riders, Plapp and Bilbao," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. "We wanted to do better than their teams. But just before we started, we saw that INEOS was also having a super good time. It is unbelievable that we managed to win this stage.”

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“We wanted to stay together until the headwind was over. Some guys really gave it their all to get one last turn. To win by one second is insane. It is the first time that I have won a team time trial. To do it in this race, after yesterday's victory, is a perfect start to this great race," he described.

With UAE Team Emirates putting in an underwhelming time, Evenepoel added another 16 seconds to the trio of rivals that seemed his biggest threat at the start of the race. However the main threat now comes from new race leader Luke Plapp and Pello Bilbao, the trio which survived the crosswinds on the opening day.

He sets off for stage 3 into Jebel Jais with the same time as Luke Plapp, 4 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao and over a minute over the UAE Team Emirates trio.

“We can be happy with the last two days. Yesterday it was fanning and today it was another very difficult day with the team time trial. That is perhaps the toughest type of competition. It's great to win. The team really deserves this," the World Champion concluded.