'I can't make excuses' - Cramps costly for Evenepoel on UAE Tour's toughest day

Remco Evenepoel didn’t reach for excuses after he lost over two minutes and the overall lead on the key mountain stage of the UAE Tour at Jebel Mobrah. A day after moving into the red jersey by winning the time trial, he now lies 11th overall, 1:44 off new leader Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).

The Belgian could be seen slapping his thigh after he was distanced from the group of favourites with 4km to go, and he confirmed afterwards that he had been stricken by cramp on the ascent.

“At the foot of the climb, I already had cramps coming on, something I haven’t experienced often,” Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad. “Maybe it was from yesterday’s effort, which I hadn't fully digested. 

“When I had to let them go, I had a really bad kilometre, but after that, I managed to get through it somewhat. I often have that at the start of the season on climbs like this, where I have a bit of a rough patch. But I didn’t feel good in my legs today anyway.”

Evenepoel has enjoyed a thunderous start to life at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and Monday’s time trial was his sixth win of the new season after victories at the Challenge Mallorca and the Volta Comunitat Valenciana. 

The expectation was that he and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) would duke it out for victory on the wickedly steep Jebel Mobrah, a new addition to the UAE Tour. But while Del Toro recovered from a cautious start to place second on the stage, Evenepoel was surprisingly distanced. He refused to blame the soaring temperatures for his travails on the ascent, which came at the end of a 183km stage.

“I definitely kept drinking, so that can’t be the cause,” Evenepoel said. “I don’t think I digested yesterday’s effort at all. I didn’t have the best night either, I woke up from the heat. But ultimately, I can’t make excuses.”

Evenepoel had hoped to pick up only the fourth WorldTour stage race victory of his career at the UAE Tour, but his prospects have dwindled considerably after this setback. There is some rugged terrain on stage 4, but the next – and perhaps only remaining – rendezvous for the general classification will come on Jebel Hafeet on Saturday.

“Is the general classification gone here? I think I’m about a minute and a half behind,” Evenepoel said. “But I might still be able to pull something off and go for the stage win on Saturday.”