'Everything was sharper' - Remco Evenepoel gets up to speed at Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) expressed satisfaction with his performance on stage 2 of the Tour de France, finishing 17th, comfortably inside the front group, on a selective stage won by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). 

After being caught out in the crosswinds on the opening stage in Lille, Evenepoel was much more involved at the front of the race on stage 2 and it was clear that he was happier when speaking to reporters post stage compared to 24 hours ago. 

"It was just as we had hoped," Evenepoel said. "I was at the front and after that it was difficult for me, especially to do something against the superior numbers of some teams. I tried to arrive safely and I succeeded. This is a positive end to the day."

Evenepoel was asked if he thought about making a move in the finale, and the Belgian admitted he considered it but believed it was probably not the most favourable race scenario to succeed.

"Yes, but I had the feeling that it was not really useful. Especially because of Visma | Lease a Bike, who were there with two of them," Evenepoel said. "And Mathieu [van der Poel] was also keen on winning a stage. He would not let it happen, but I am very happy that he won the stage."

The Belgian continued to look positively about the stage outcome when asked if the bonus seconds he conceded to Pogačar (six) and Vingegaard (four) bothered him.

"No drama. Yesterday there were more [seconds lost], right? That's not bad. My feeling was good," Evenepoel responded. "If you're with the top five over those kicks, then that's just good. I can't complain about that. My positioning was pretty good, everything was a bit sharper than yesterday. It's positive to finish like this."

When asked if he wanted to boost his confidence on this stage, Evenepoel simply responded, "No, because that wasn't gone. Riding with those top riders, that's just my place."

"I wanted to ride at the front, and I succeeded. The most important thing was to finish with the first group and stay upright. I don't lose any stupid time, except for the bonuses."

The mood from the Soudal-QuickStep staff was also positive after the stage. "This was a better day for us," said directeur sportif Tom Steels.

"In the Tour, you can't expect everything to go perfectly. Today it was good. Remco was good and was at the front of the battle. That's good for confidence. It was hectic, but everything went relatively well. The fact that the top riders raced was thanks to the course. That lent itself to it."

The new CEO of the team, Jurgen Foré was also positive post stage, and particularly highlighted the work of the entire team when speaking to Daniel Benson after the finish.

"I saw a strong team today. Everybody was really fighting, also Bert [Van Lerberghe] and Tim [Merlier] did their part of the job, pulling at the front of the peloton keeping Remco safe - and in the end, we still had the other guys like Ilan [Van Wilder], [Maximilian] Schachmann, Pascal [Eenkhoorn] and also [Valentin] Paret-Peintre still there, so we had them all, so Remco could do a good final, yeah... happy with today," Foré said.

Asked where it went wrong for the team on stage 1, Foré explained: "It's small details, yesterday they did a perfect race until that one moment where we lost it and then it was over in a split second."

However, Foré was happy with the overall performance from his Soudal-QuickStep team on stage 2, stating, "Today's a good day," he said.

"Everyday is an opportunity. I think Tim [Merlier] is the fastest, he doesn't miss a lot of opportunities, and yesterday he couldn't sprint, but he is still one of the fastest guys in the bunch and still committed. 

"We say today how committed he is to the team, and tomorrow, if we get to the finish with Tim, for sure he will get his opportunity to show what a great sprinter and teammate he is."

Looking further ahead to the time trial of stage 5, Foré was asked about its importance to Remco Evenepoel's overall challenge and setting another marker. 

"I think he's the best time trialist in the world, he's the world champion, and I think he just wants to show that," Foré said.