“I follow at about twenty seconds and am second in the standings. That's still a good place. The intention was to give away the jersey, especially with an eye on tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," continues the
Soudal - Quick-Step leader. “The feeling was very good. It was a super tough stage. But it didn't feel difficult when INEOS started to lead. I am very pleased with the feeling, happy that we managed to get through this day in hectic conditions.”
Although the Soudal - Quick-Step team found it difficult to control things early on in the day, Evenepoel isn't concerned about what some perceived to be the biggest weakness of his general classification ambitions. “As long as I'm there, it's fine. It was a super difficult opening phase, we had underestimated that.”