“It’s silly seconds we’ve lost" - Remco Evenepoel reacts to shock time loss on stage 1 of 2025 Tour de France

The 2025 Tour de France might only be one day old, but already Soudal - Quick-Step leader Remco Evenepoel is on the back foot against his Maillot Jaune rivals. In a shock opening stage disappointment, Evenepoel found himself missing from the lead group, ceding 39 seconds to Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and others at the line.

“We were more or less riding grouped together. I didn’t really feel like the pace was that high, but then it split," detailed Evenepoel in a post-stage interview with Sporza at the finish line. "We’d been riding well all day, but we let ourselves get lulled to sleep by the calm in the peloton. It was our mistake, collectively."

Clearly, losing such considerable time to the likes of Pogacar and Vingegaard on stage 1 is far from ideal for Evenepoel. The good thing is however, there is plenty of time left for the Belgian to put things right. “We have to accept it and shift our focus to tomorrow,” he analyses firmly.

On a doubly disastrous day for the Soudal - Quick-Step team, sprint hope Tim Merlier was also left behind by the decisive split. Evenepoel though, is more concerned by his own disappointment than his teammate's. “It’s a shame for me too, of course," says the Olympic champ.

"But there are still twenty days to go,” Evenepoel concludes. “It’s silly seconds we’ve lost, but last year I was 40 seconds behind after stage four — now it’s already after stage one. In the end, we just have to deal with it and focus on the day ahead.”