Critérium du Dauphiné

Remco Evenepoel improved his result of last year at the Critérium du Dauphiné by three places, coming home fourth on the general classification after a strong and hard week of racing. The double Olympic Champion once again won the only individual time trial of the competition and enjoyed a two-day spell in the yellow jersey before the three mountain stages, where he did his best despite a crash on stage 5, whose effects could be seen on the ascents.

On the final stage, a 133.3km one comprising six climbs, including the brutal Mont-Cenis one, and 3500 vertical meters, Remco attacked twice: once on the last difficulty of the day, where he accelerated from the favourites’ group making a selection, followed by another move on the plateau leading to the line, where he dropped almost all those with him en route to fifth place – his sixth top ten finish of the week – a result that helped the Belgian seal his position in the overall standings.

“This final stage was another step forward. I underestimated the crash in which I was involved a couple of days a bit and also struggled with the allergies, which prevented me from being at my best for two days in a row, but today was a bit better, I had a good feeling, and that gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”

“In the next couple of weeks, I want to work on the tempo changes, because it’s something that isn’t in my nature, but I also need to improve on the climbs. There’s still some time until the Tour de France and we are confident we can be there with a good team and in better form”, said Remco after bringing home Soudal Quick-Step’s best result in eight years at the Dauphiné.

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