Evenepoel explains why his punch was missing on Tour stage 3
Remco Evenepoel knew before stage 3 of the Tour de France that the final climb to Les Angles was unlikely to create huge gaps between the main favourites. He was right about that. What he could not match, however, was Tadej Pogačar’s explosive finish, and afterwards he had a clear explanation for why.
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The Slovenian powered clear in the final 200 metres to win the first Pyrenean stage of the race, beating Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz after UAE Team Emirates-XRG had steadily reeled in the day’s breakaway.
The bonus seconds and small gap at the line were enough to move Pogačar into the yellow jersey, while Evenepoel crossed the line ninth, four seconds down.
More surprising was that he finished behind his teammate Florian Lipowitz, a rider who would normally be rated below him on a punchy uphill finish of this kind. It underlined the point Evenepoel made afterwards: when the race came down to one explosive effort, the sharpness was missing.
“I felt that the best was gone,” Evenepoel told Sporza after the stage. “When we turned onto the last climb, I felt I could still ride hard, but not that I could sprint for the victory.”
That had been the plan, at least if the legs had been exceptional. Evenepoel had come into the day third overall and, after sprinting to third place a day earlier, had shown that his Tour start was on track. Yet the finish in Les Angles demanded something different. It was sharper and more violent than the drag to the line on stage 2.
“If I had felt really good, the idea was to sprint for the win,” he said. “Now I just had to follow.”
Evenepoel did not describe it as a bad day. More a reminder of what he is still missing after a long spell away from competition. The engine was there. The acceleration was not.
“It was not a bad feeling,” he said. “I just missed some punch because I have been out of competition for a long time. These kinds of hard days will only make me better.”
Asked why that punch had been present the previous day, Evenepoel pointed to the type of effort. Stage 2 had required a long, sustained burst of around 700 metres. Les Angles was decided by a much more direct sprint of roughly 300 metres at full gas. Against Pogačar, on a finish that suited the Slovenian’s kick, there was little room to hide.
For the wider Tour picture, Evenepoel was more upbeat. The general classification remains tight, and the opening three days have confirmed that the major contenders have arrived in shape.
“It was tough, but everything is still close together,” he said. “All the leaders are clearly there.”
He was also struck by the strength of Pogačar’s team. UAE again controlled the stage with purpose, choosing not to let the breakaway contest the win.
“UAE looks very strong again, as usual,” Evenepoel said. “It is a bit of a shame they did not let the break go. That could have been a nice chance for them. But it is like Tadej said after the finish: if you feel you can win, you should not let it slip.”
For Evenepoel, the next objective is recovery. He expects two calmer days before stage 6, where the Tour heads into more serious mountain terrain, including the Tourmalet.
By then, he hopes these early tests will have sharpened exactly what was missing in Les Angles.
Result: Tour de France stage 3
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