“Like all the other people who followed the race on television, I had no idea of ​​the reason" - Lefevere in shock at Evenepoel's disastrous day at La Vuelta

Soudal - Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere has never been one to shy away from criticising his riders, and after a disastrous day for Remco Evenepoel saw him fall out of Red Jersey contention, Lefevere has now given his reaction.

“Like all the other people who followed the race on television, I had no idea of ​​the reason for Remco's off day," Lefevere admits in his column for Het Nieuwsblad. "At the moment I still don't have it. What is certain is that he did not start the ride sick. Only at the Aubisque did I see the same face that I also saw in the Giro after the time trial. The best word I have for it is 'pulled'. I sincerely hope that we will not wake up with the same reality as then: sick – corona, that should not happen again.”

Prior to this year's Vuelta, Evenepoel has DNF'd all bar one of his previous Grand Tour attempts - the one he finished being the 2023 Vuelta a Espana in which he was victorious. "Can Remco still recover in this Vuelta? No idea," evaluates Lefevere. "Our doctors don't know yet what's going on, and I certainly don't know what's going on. If he wakes up healthy, he will enter a new reality: racing with the idea 'everything is possible, nothing is mandatory.' Remco has actually never been granted that.”

With Evenepoel no longer in the Red Jersey race, there seemingly is no stopping Jumbo-Visma, who sit one, two and three in the GC after a one-two-three finish on stage 13. “First and foremost: Sepp Kuss , Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard are anything but out of nowhere. They are top talents, with the rather unique combination of a light body and a gigantic engine," says Lefevere on his rivals. “I am certainly not the man who questions collective dominance. Our team has experienced this often enough in one-day work. Winning always makes you win more often.”