Vuelta a España: Evenepoel suffers but fights on

Featuring four classified climbs, including the Col d’Aubisque and Col du Tourmalet, and over 4000 vertical meters, Friday’s stage was seen by many as being the most difficult of the whole race, and it lived up to the expectations, opening more gaps at the front of the general classification between those vying for a top result.
Unfortunately, it also ended up being a tough day for Remco Evenepoel. The stage three winner, leader of the race for three consecutive days in the first week, got dropped four kilometers from the top of the Aubisque. The Belgian Champion was immediately surrounded by his teammates Mattia Cattaneo, Jan Hirt, James Knox and Louis Vervaeke, who at first tried to limit the losses and then continued to support him all the way to the finish atop Tourmalet.
“It was just one of those days where my tank was empty. We gave it everything and I have no regrets. I want to thank my teammates who stayed with me the whole day and left everything out there for me. We will discuss and look at where we go from here for the rest of La Vuelta”, said Remco Evenepoel.
“Not much can be said about this stage. It was just a bad day for Remco – he was not sick or injured. It’s unfortunate and it can happen. Cycling is not racing on a simulator and we are all human beings. We will sit down as a team tonight, assess what happened and look at our goals for the rest of the race”, added Soudal Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
3:51:10 |
2 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
0:30 |
3 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
0:33 |
4 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
0:38 |
5 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
0:38 |
6 |
Enric Mas Nicolau Movistar Team |
0:40 |
7 |
Mikel Landa Meana Bahrain - Victorious |
1:15 |
8 |
Aleksandr Vlasov BORA - hansgrohe |
2:12 |
9 |
Steff Cras TotalEnergies |
2:32 |
10 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
3:08 |
36 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
24:23 |
59 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:05 |
60 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:05 |
61 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:05 |
62 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:05 |
68 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
28:20 |
78 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
31:57 |
1 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
46:42:54 |
2 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
1:37 |
3 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
1:44 |
4 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
2:37 |
5 |
Enric Mas Nicolau Movistar Team |
3:06 |
6 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
3:10 |
7 |
Mikel Landa Meana Bahrain - Victorious |
4:12 |
8 |
Aleksandr Vlasov BORA - hansgrohe |
5:02 |
9 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
5:30 |
10 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
8:39 |
19 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
27:50 |
29 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
50:25 |
37 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:04:52 |
43 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:08:38 |
63 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:24:26 |
104 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:58:01 |
141 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:21:50 |
1 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin-Deceuninck |
203 pt |
2 |
Marijn van den Berg EF Education-EasyPost |
85 pt |
3 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
80 pt |
4 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
79 pt |
5 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
79 pt |
6 |
Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides UAE Team Emirates |
78 pt |
7 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Dstny |
77 pt |
8 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
76 pt |
9 |
Edward Theuns Lidl - Trek |
72 pt |
10 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
69 pt |
30 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
30 pt |
67 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
10 pt |
1 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
36 pt |
2 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
27 pt |
3 |
Michael Storer Groupama - FDJ |
25 pt |
4 |
Jesús Herrada López Cofidis |
22 pt |
5 |
Eduardo Sepúlveda Lotto Dstny |
21 pt |
6 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
20 pt |
7 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Dstny |
20 pt |
8 |
Primož Roglič Jumbo-Visma |
18 pt |
9 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
15 pt |
10 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
11 pt |
39 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
1 pt |
1 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
46:45:31 |
2 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
2:53 |
3 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
6:02 |
4 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
7:26 |
5 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
8:55 |
6 |
Einer Rubio Reyes Movistar Team |
14:45 |
7 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
25:13 |
8 |
Attila Valter Jumbo-Visma |
30:20 |
9 |
Antonio Tiberi Bahrain - Victorious |
49:20 |
10 |
Max Poole Team dsm - firmenich |
1:04:11 |
1 | Jumbo-Visma | 139:36:43 |
2 | UAE Team Emirates | 10:27 |
3 | BORA - hansgrohe | 19:20 |
4 | Bahrain - Victorious | 37:21 |
5 | Movistar Team | 1:03:05 |
6 | Groupama - FDJ | 1:25:19 |
7 | TotalEnergies | 1:42:12 |
8 | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:42:37 |
9 | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:54:50 |
10 | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 1:57:10 |