Remco Evenepoel seemed to improve in Catalonia, but says: "I can't exceed my limit"
Remco Evenepoel himself was not competing for the win in the sixth stage of the Tour of Catalonia, but he still played a key role in support of teammate Florian Lipowitz. Although the German believes Evenepoel could have won this stage, the Belgian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has a different view. He again did not feel at his best.
About 27 kilometers from the finish, Evenepoel suddenly appeared in a positive light. He single-handedly whittled the peloton down to six riders and would continue to set the pace on the subsequent descent, valley, and final climb. Teammate Florian Lipowitz certainly appreciated this, but had no suitable response when Jonas Vingegaard launched his expected attack.
“It was actually a bit of an impulse decision, because the plan was to make some sort of attack on the penultimate climb,” Evenepoel admits to Sporza. “Midway up that climb I felt my legs weren’t really great. Good enough to ride hard, but I didn’t feel like I could push beyond my limit. I also didn’t want to take risks. After that crash, I had a few tough days. The impact was greater than I had hoped.”
So what exactly was the plan? “I knew it was a technical descent where something could happen. In the valley, I could work with someone from Bahrain (Eulalio, ed). On the last little climb, I just rode a hard tempo uphill. In the end, I lost only about ten seconds to 'Lipo' and Martinez,” the Belgian explains.
“You might then ask whether I should have gone for the stage win myself. But then the race would have played out differently. With this tactic, I did a good job for 'Lipo', but also for myself, because I’m gaining a lot of time on the guys behind me.”
Evenepoel could still use a personal boost after a week that perhaps hasn’t gone as he initially hoped. He sees an opportunity for himself on Sunday. “This stage should suit me. The overall classification is more or less settled, so I think there should be room to try something,” he concludes.
