“Someone has to do it" - Red Bull teammate on the nightmare of following Remco Evenepoel on the time trial bike

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe managed to celebrate their victory this Thursday at the Trofeo Ses Salines but it didn't come without its price. Nico Denz describes how difficult it was to be the man behind Remco Evenepoel throughout the 24-kilometer effort.

The German team was the strongest on paper but also on the road. Whilst the victory over Movistar was narrow, with only 3 seconds to spare by the time the first four riders crossed the finish line, it was sufficient and provided Remco Evenepoel with a dream debut with the team in an effort they will be replicating at the Tour de France. The team's '7' featured six elite riders who are the six men that look virtually guaranteed to race the Tour later this summer: Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz, Maxim van Gils, Mattia Cattaneo, Gianni Moscon and Denz himself.

Denz found himself lining up behind Remco Evenepoel and ahead of Florian Lipowitz in the team time trial, a spot that required a lot of responsibility and caution as well. “Sitting on his wheel, or doing a pull myself, in terms of power it was almost the same," he told Het Nieuwsblad following the race. The incredibly aerodynamical position of Evenepoel is one of the keys to his time trialing success, but in a team effort, it provides little help to those who follow in the wheel. Denz experienced this first hand.

However, the German crossed the finish line together with Evenepoel, Lipowitz and van Gils. “Someone has to do it," he joked. The team explained that part of the day's tactic was to have Evenepoel spend longer stints in the front of the group when comparing to his teammates, so as to balance out the amount of effort the group overall would be putting in. Evenepoel himself said following the race: “It was not a hard course in terms of elevation, but a team time trial is always tough. We had a pretty structured plan and it turned out well, so I think we have to be happy.”