Critérium du Dauphiné

Remco Evenepoel crushed the stage four individual time trial of the French race, scoring the victory, just like last year, and moving into the yellow jersey after one of the most stunning rides of his career in a race against the clock.

The Olympic and World Champion of the discipline had a superb start, blasting through the intermediate checkpoint and improving the best result up until that point by a massive 30 seconds, which put him on track for a great day at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Belgian, making his just second stage race appearance of the season, continued to push a big tempo in the remaining kilometers, producing a blistering ride and clocking a time of 20:30 thanks to an average speed of more than 50km/h, enough to see him take the victory by a huge margin for a 17.4km ITT – his 56th in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey.

This dominant victory, Remco’s 19th in an individual time trial, sees him lead the general classification at the French race with four stages to go, an important boost of confidence for Evenepoel, as he mentioned after the podium ceremony.

“It was a tough stage due to that steep climb, but I just found my rhythm as soon as I rolled down the ramp and kept it on the climb and also in the final kilometers, where I used the headwind in my favour. I am proud of this victory and happy that I could make some important gaps in the general classification. I wasn’t expecting that, especially as my main focus was on the stage win, but it just shows all the hard work I have put into it. Today was a good step for the next days and weeks, and at the same time, a result that makes me confident for the coming stages”, said Evenepoel after scoring Soudal Quick-Step’s 1000th victory.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images