"It's always dangerous" - Remco Evenepoel alive to the danger of hilly stage at Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel started stage 11 of the Tour de France in second place in the overall classification, 33 seconds down on the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar. The Soudal - Quick-Step rider continues to think long-term in this Tour but he is very much aware of how dangerous today's hilly stage can be for riders like him.

"It's always dangerous, but it's not the most dangerous stage. We have to be careful not to lose time. We have to be attentive and have the legs. It's still very early in the race," Evenepoel said in words to Het Nieuwsblad. "The Pyrenees are coming the day after tomorrow. It's a bit of an intermediate stage. We have to be awake for attacks, but we won't do much ourselves." This most likely indicates the idea of a conservative strategy for today's stage, which has a fast start but a tough finale with several short but explosive climbs. Evenepoel could be tested by Tadej Pogacar, although he himself could try to make the difference on such a day of racing.

Evenepoel continues to be in a position above what most expected, currently ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and legitimately in the fight for the Tour's victory. Yet, he remains relaxed and in control of the situation, on his Tour debut. "Everything is going well. We're dealing well with the stress, the nerves and the attention. We have to continue like this and stay focused until the end".

Stage 11 is a day where most believe a breakaway will succeed and Evenepoel shares that belief. "I think we're going to have a very nice battle for the breakaway of the day, because the course goes up and down constantly. Our expectation is that it will be a race on two fronts: one for the breakaway and one for the classification.”