Evenepoel close to another win on Foia

Evenepoel close to another win on Foia

Alto da Foia – Algarve’s highest point and the place where a statue inspired by Remco Evenepoel’s spectacular 2020 victory was erected – returned at the Portuguese race. The riders climbed it from the same side as four years ago, but the scenario was completely different this time around, the headwind forcing the GC contenders to keep their powder dry and rely instead on just one powerful surge in the last 200 meters.

Before the yellow jersey favourites were left to battle for the win, Soudal Quick-Step did a tremendous work the entire stage, controlling things from one end to the other and bringing back all nine members of the breakaway. At the start of the last ascent, Remco had with him three men – Mattia Cattaneo, James Knox and Mikel Landa – whose immense effort helped thin out the peloton, leaving only a handful of riders in the group as they rode under the flamme rouge.

The Belgian Champion made his move before the last corner, but coming out of his wheel, Dani Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe) took the win on the line, while Evenepoel had to settle for second. The result brought him some precious bonifications, which put the 24-year-old in a good position ahead of Saturday’s individual time trial.

“I want to surprise the others and I went a bit early, which in the end was a mistake. The wind changed direction from what we knew at the start of the day and that surprised us a bit. On the other hand, I didn’t lose any time on the road, which was important. The team did a great job, and I would have wanted the victory for them, but you can’t always get what you want. I am proud of my teammates and of how we controlled the stage by ourselves, and in the end, I think it’s a good result”, Remco explained after his seventh top-three finish at the Volta ao Algarve.

 

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images

Race details

1 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
4:40:20
2 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
3 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:06
4 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
0:06
5 Jan Tratnik
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:08
6 Thomas Pidcock
INEOS Grenadiers
0:08
7 Tao Geoghegan Hart
Lidl - Trek
0:08
8 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
0:13
9 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
0:13
10 Christian Scaroni
Astana Qazaqstan Team
0:18
28 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
2:10
48 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
4:17
84 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
10:17
118 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
16:31
152 Warre Vangheluwe
Soudal Quick-Step
24:48
1 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
9:32:14
2 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step
0:04
3 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:12
4 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
0:16
5 Jan Tratnik
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
0:18
6 Tao Geoghegan Hart
Lidl - Trek
0:18
7 Thomas Pidcock
INEOS Grenadiers
0:18
8 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
0:23
9 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
0:23
10 Christian Scaroni
Astana Qazaqstan Team
0:28
28 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
2:18
48 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
4:27
81 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
10:27
115 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
16:41
145 Warre Vangheluwe
Soudal Quick-Step
24:58
1 Gerben Thijssen
Intermarché - Wanty
25 pt
2 Marijn van den Berg
EF Education - EasyPost
20 pt
3 Jordi Meeus
BORA - hansgrohe
16 pt
4 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
15 pt
5 Lars Boven
Alpecin - Deceuninck
13 pt
6 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step
12 pt
7 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
10 pt
8 Arnaud Démare
10 pt
9 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
8 pt
10 Rui Oliveira
UAE Team Emirates
8 pt
21 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
22 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
1 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
10 pt
2 Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step
8 pt
3 Aleksandr Grigorev
Efapel Cycling
7 pt
4 Tomas Contte
Aviludo - Louletano - Loulé Concelho
7 pt
5 Andreas Leknessund
Uno-X Mobility
6 pt
6 Sepp Kuss
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
6 pt
7 Martin Urianstad Bugge
Uno-X Mobility
6 pt
8 Sergio Higuita García
BORA - hansgrohe
4 pt
9 Max Walker
Astana Qazaqstan Team
4 pt
10 Jonas Abrahamsen
Uno-X Mobility
3 pt
12 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
1 António Morgado
UAE Team Emirates
9:32:44
2 Jan Christen
UAE Team Emirates
0:02
3 Magnus Sheffield
INEOS Grenadiers
0:52
4 Jaume Guardeño Roma
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
3:49
5 Enzo Paleni
Groupama - FDJ
5:02
6 Isaac del Toro Romero
UAE Team Emirates
5:50
7 Per Strand Hagenes
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
7:09
8 Pavel Bittner
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
12:15
9 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
12:15
10 Alexandre Montez
Credibom / LA Alumínios / Marcos Car
16:50
1 BORA - hansgrohe 28:37:44
2 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 0:08
3 INEOS Grenadiers 1:01
4 UAE Team Emirates 1:40
5 Soudal Quick-Step 1:51
6 Astana Qazaqstan Team 2:43
7 EF Education - EasyPost 2:47
8 Lidl - Trek 5:52
9 Uno-X Mobility 6:15
10 Tudor Pro Cycling Team 9:21

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