'I can’t blame myself for anything' - Evenepoel beaten by centimetres in Catalunya opener

That scenario only became clear in the final kilometres. Evenepoel stayed attentive throughout the day and was delivered in the right place in the closing phase. On a finish he did not know, positioning was key. 

“That coastal road was new for me,” he said to Het Laatste Nieuws afterwards. “So I had to be at the front and the team dropped me off perfectly. After that I was always well positioned.”

From there, he committed early. A deliberate move based on how this type of finish is usually won. “I went early, but everyone who has won here has done it that way,” the 26-year-old Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider explained.

For a moment, it looked enough. Evenepoel opened a gap and forced the others to react, but Godon managed to come around him in the final metres. The Belgian did not give in immediately, fighting back once more before the line came just too soon.

“My first feeling after the finish? That it’s the second time I just missed out here,” he said. “Godon countered me, but then I came back again. It was close all the way to the line and I can’t blame myself for anything.”

Only afterwards did his pre-stage words carry extra weight. “There will be a sprint with tired legs, and that’s not necessarily bad for me. Dorian Godon is, in my opinion, the top favourite. On this kind of finish, he is very fast,” Evenepoel had said with notable foresight.

Asked whether a sprint like this could have brought him victory in Milan San-Remo, Evenepoel laughed. “That’s a completely different effort and a flat sprint,” he said. “It’s a shame I didn’t win, but it’s a good start to the week. I’m happy with how I feel.”

The coming stages are expected to be more controlled before the race opens up later in the week. “Now I should be able to come through the next two stages relatively calmly. After that it’s four days full gas.”

While Evenepoel committed to the sprint, his main rivals Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida chose not to contest it, allowing him to take valuable bonus seconds. It leaves him with a six second advantage, a modest but potentially useful margin as the race progresses, although the demanding parcours could still create significant time gaps later in the week.