'If it's hard for me, it's hard for the guys in the back' - Evenepoel explains headwind battle in Valenciana solo win

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) described his mindset in the closing kilometres of his victory on stage 4 of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana whilst battling a headwind, stating, “If it’s hard for me, it’s hard for the other guys in the back.”

It was the game plan to make the race hard up to the point where Evenepoel accelerated clear on the Cumbre del Sol. Evenepoel praised the work of his teammates because by the time he attacked, the GC group was already reduced to less than ten riders. 

“One word for the team, they were really incredible today. 
I think from the first metres, till the very last ones, they worked for me. Everybody did their part of the job,” Evenepoel told Cycling Pro Net. 

“Nobody helped us, which I completely understand, and to finish it off like this with the plan exactly as we wanted is just amazing, and also to see Giulio [Pellizzari] finish third after such strong work. 
It's really incredible. So yeah, an amazing day for us.”

Once Evenepoel opened the gap, on a chase group featuring João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) and his teammate Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), he had to maintain it throughout the final 10km, which was not an easy task with a headwind.

“I had to keep going till the finish line, it was really difficult,” said Evenepoel. “Of course, I went all out for the down the last part of Cumbre del Sol, and then once we turned left on the big road, it was headwind, so it was really hard to keep up.”

Evenepoel's mindset was not to panic with the difficult wind conditions, knowing full well that the circumstances were the same for the chasers behind. “But I knew if it's hard for me, it's also hard for the guys in the back, so I just kept pushing,” explained Evenepoel.

In the end, Evenepoel won the stage in Teulada Moraira, 0:24 ahead of the chase group led home by Almeida to take the lead in the GC. The Olympic Champion now leads Almeida overall by 0:29 with one stage remaining, which is likely to end in a bunch sprint in Valencia. 

With five victories out of his first seven race days with Red Bull, Evenepoel could become the first Belgian since Eddy Merckx in 1969 to win the GC at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana.