Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian scored his 18th overall podium in a stage race at the 21st edition of the event, which came to a conclusion in the capital of Wales, Cardiff.
Victorious on the penultimate day, Remco Evenepoel threw everything he had in the final 20 kilometers of the last stage, attacking and making a selection on the steep Caerphilly climb and putting in a strong acceleration on the flat, hoping to shake the others off his wheel. Despite his best effort, the others responded to these moves and kept things together for a reduced sprint, where Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) prevailed.
Evenepoel came home with this group, retaining his second place on the overall standings; the 25-year-old double Olympic Champion was joined in the top ten at the end of the day by Soudal Quick-Step teammate and countryman Ilan Van Wilder, who concluded seventh on the GC and rounded out our team’s strong week in Britain.
“I’m pretty happy with the outcome, because it’s more or less the maximum I could take out of this race. Maybe on stage four it could have turned different for me, but we should be happy as I made my return to competition after a long period. I gave absolutely everything here and I would have loved to leave with a GC win, but in the end, I am content with my result, the stage victory I took and with the teamwork we put in this week. It was a strong outing and an important morale-boost before travelling to the World Championships”, Remco explained after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 66th podium of the season.
Photo credit: ©Alex Livesey / Getty Images
