"Maybe he pushed himself beyond his limits" - Remco Evenepoel's struggles discussed as Red Bull suffere massive hit at UAE Tour
Cycling
The queen stage of the UAE Tour was expected to be a showdown between Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro. It ended up being a completely different story, and the race leader dramatically cracked on the climb to Jebel Mobrah. The reasons as to why that was, were not known at the time by Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.
"From what we saw in the support car, Remco may have been a bit over the limit during Gall's attack," team DS Klaas Lodewyck told Sporza. "We had discussed that: 'Take it easy.' But maybe he felt so good then that he wanted to follow. But the final result is clear."
Evenepoel was blocked on the opening stage's sprint, however in the time trial he showed his best legs to take the stage win and the overall lead, gaining 42 seconds on Isaac del Toro and just a little less over new race leader Antonio Tiberi.
On Jebel Mobrah, he entered the climb well positioned, and was well positioned when Felix Gall launched the opening attack. Evenepoel looked strong and composed, but a few minutes later he began dropping down the field in an unexpected way.
Whilst he did not switch off from GC, he lost 2:04 minutes in the line to Tiberi, finishing the stage in 18th postion. "I think he was extremely disappointed. Yesterday was very good, today was a bit of a downer. Knowing Remco, he won't be happy about that."
Were cramps the reason?
The Belgian news outlet talked to Lodewyck, a long-term DS of Evenepoel, right after the finish, and at the time it was not known what the reason was for the 'crack'. "From what we saw on the footage, it was a brutal climb. And maybe he pushed himself beyond his limits at the start. But there's no doubt it was a difficult climb."
Right after Evenepoel dropped from the Isaac del Toro group, he held his leg for a few seconds, giving the idea that it might have been cramps. But Lodewyck did not know of any, if that was the case. "No, I don't think so. Again: I haven't spoken to him yet, and we won't have more clarity until tonight."
The reason why there was so little communication during the climb was the fact that Evenepoel was on his limit. "We tried to keep communication as limited as possible, because everyone was suffering here. We'll know more soon."
However what looks clear is that Evenepoel will not win the overall classification, as happened in 2023. Although crosswinds would on paper favour him and the summit finish to Jebel Hafeet still lies ahead, he is now 11th on the overall classification, almost 2 minutes down on Tiberi and Del Toro.
"Unless a miracle happens. There's always a bit of wind on the stage to Jebel Hafeet, and you can force something, but making up for this loss of time will be very difficult," he concluded.
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Jezla18-02-20264
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