Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel claimed his ninth Grand Tour stage victory in Caen, a city deeply rooted in the history of the Tour de France, where it made its maiden appearance in 1905. The reigning World and National Champion of the discipline, the 25-year-old had a perfect day in Normandie, where he put his superb time trial skills on display to deliver Soudal Quick-Step’s 53rd Tour de France win.

The Belgian, one of the few riders in history to have won individual time trials in all three Grand Tours, averaged 54km/h thanks to a searing pace Wednesday afternoon, where he had to overcome the stiff headwind in the first part of the 33km flat course that ended up bringing significant changes to the general classification.

At the finish, the one nicknamed “The AeroBullet” stopped the clock in 36:42, smashing the previous best time and crowning his sublime performance with another victory at the biggest race in the world, one that helped him make a leap of seven places in the rankings – where he now sits second – and take the white jersey, which he won last year in Nice.

“You never know what can happen in a time trial, but I was incredibly motivated today. I knew I had a formidable bike and a good chance to take the victory, and fortunately, the legs were there and everything went as planned from start to finish. I am happy with this result, with ticking off an important goal and with our team’s second success of the week, as it makes us more relaxed.”

“I pushed a steady tempo, a bit harder on the uphill parts, and in the end, I kept the same pace I had in the opening kilometers and continued to gain time on the others. I am content with the way I paced myself and with moving up on the overall standings of the race. It was an important chance for me to gain time on the others and the fact I did it gives me a lot of confidence”, Remco said after once again showing his time trial supremacy.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images