Remco Evenepoel: "For me, the stage was one kilometer too long"

After a dominant display on the opening stage, today proved a different beast for Remco Evenepoel who has lost the lead of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana.

Everything looked in control for Evenepoel until 2 kilometers to go on today's stage to Alto de las Antenas de Maigmó Tibi. Up to that point the race had been rather controlled, with BORA and Movistar taking the helm of most of the stage. Evenepoel had teammates until the initial attack from Alejandro Valverde who later punctured in the gravel section, and looked in control, that was until the BORA rider got a gap and started to put time into the competition.

“The stage and the final climb were so hard that they didn’t need this gravel sector. It resembled a mountain bike sector, but I can’t say that’s the reason for me losing that much time, it’s just that Aleksandr was stronger. I felt good today, but then, towards the end of the gravel sector, I began feeling the legs getting tired. For me, the stage was one kilometer too long," Evenepoel said.

Exiting the gravel sector Evenepoel was leading the chasing group, but as the gradients got incredibly complicated in the final kilometer some riders couldn't keep up the pace, and the race leader was one of them.

"Being second in the GC is still a good result. Now, I look forward to helping Fabio on the remaining flat stages".