"Seemed like I had more left than Roglic and Vingegaard" - Remco Evenepoel buoyed by late recovery on stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana

Although Remco Evenepoel lost 32 seconds to Jumbo-Visma duo Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard on stage 6 of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, at one point it looked as if it could have been a lot worse. As such, Evenepoel begins stage 7 buoyed by his late recovery.

"I feel better than yesterday morning. It wasn't a great day yesterday, but it wasn't a super bad day either," the Soudal - Quick-Step leader and reigning Vuelta a Espana champion told VTM in his pre-stage interview ahead of a flat day that is expected to be relatively quiet as far as the GC battle goes. 

"It seemed like I had more left than Roglic and Vingegaard at that altitude," says a confident Evenepoel. After initially being unable to respond, the Belgian didn't panic, instead setting a pace and gradually reeling in riders on his way up to the line. "They rode very fast for three or four minutes and then found a pace. I couldn't follow in those minutes, but my basic pace was quite high, which allowed me to overtake a lot of guys."

"Enric Mas tried to follow and completely exploded. I felt in my legs that I couldn't follow, so we can end it on a positive note," he concludes. "It will be a hectic weekend - with rain predicted - so recover well today and then be at the appointment."