Remco Evenepoel overcomes crash to keep Vuelta a Espana lead intact

Stage 12 was not an easy day for Remco Evenepoel, who crashed before the final ascent to Peñas Blancas, however managed to secure his lead in what was the longest summit finish of the race so far.

The incident took place with 51 kilometers to go as he and Ilan van Wilder slipped out in a corner. The Belgian duo quickly got up and returned to the peloton however. “Everything looks to be fine after that tumble. It was a very slippery corner and I think the motorbikes were also slipping and slowing down a bit, that’s why I wanted to cut the corner, but it was a bit too much”, Evenepoel said. With some road rash and blood in sight however, he was not in the best position to defend his red jersey in the 19-kilometer long summit finish; but he succeeded.

“I felt good on the climb and went with my plan, which was to follow the others. I did that and it’s the most important thing at the end of the day," he said. He survived the two surges from Enric Mas halfway up the climb, and seemingly rode in comfort throughout the whole ascent. In the final two kilometers he picked up the pace himself, and sprinted across the line to take time on some of his rivals.

"The team was once again great and I want to thank them for the amount of work they put it. Now I’ll try to recover and continue with our plan, which is to take it stage by stage," Evenepoel concluded.