The 25-year-old Belgian delivered the team’s 35th success of the season.
Remco Evenepoel scored his 59th victory in the Soudal Quick-Step on the penultimate day of the Tour of Britain, moving up to second place on the general classification, just a few seconds from the green jersey. The Olympic Champion was part of a large group that arrived together inside 500 meters to go and patiently waited for the last 150 meters to launch an acceleration that ended up securing his sixth win of the season.
The 133km stage had five classified climbs on the agenda, including a double ascent of The Tumble, the 5.5km hill averaging a stinging 8.8% where the GC fight unfolded. A breakaway animated the first part of the stage, but was reabsorbed with 40 kilometers to go. Seconds later, another group went clear, but this too was brought back by the time they took on the final climb. There, a couple of riders briefly snapped the elastic and opened a five-second gap, but thanks to a solid effort of Ilan Van Wilder, they were reeled in ahead of the flamme rouge, paving the way for Remco’s success.
“It’s a win that makes me happy, especially as it wasn’t easy today. The first time up the climb, we wanted to see how it went. We went quite fast, but then, in the last three kilometers, the wind was blowing quite hard in the face, and I quickly realised that we had to wait for the sprint. It was going to be quite difficult to get away, as you could see.”
“Ilan did a great job bringing the late attackers back, and then it was up to me to have a sprint. I know after a tough day and a hard climb, that I still have a good sprint, so I just focused on my sprint, tried it and went out with the win, so it’s good. We are delighted with this outcome and on Sunday we’ll try to see if we can win the general classification”, Remco explained after the podium ceremony, where he celebrated Soudal Quick-Step’s 29th victory at the Tour of Britain.
Photo credit: ©Alex Livesey / Getty Images
