'Pogacar was superior' - Evenepoel gracious in defeat but refuses to throw in the towel at Dauphiné

Remco Evenepoel surrendered his yellow jersey to Tadej Pogačar during the first of three crucial mountain stages at the Critérium du Dauphiné on Friday, finishing 1:50 behind the world champion on the challenging climb to Combloux.

"Pogačar was superior again," said Evenepoel to VTM Nieuws after the stage, who remained in strong spirits despite ceding the yellow jersey on stage 6 and dropping to 4th in the general classification at 1:22 behind Pogačar.

The 25-year-old Belgian initially felt strong but couldn't match Pogacar's blistering pace when it mattered most. "I felt great on the second-to-last climb but maybe I wasn't fully recovered from the efforts," Evenepoel explained after crossing the finish line.

Pogacar claimed the 97th professional victory of his career and put to bed any doubts about his form after he lost time to both Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard in the individual time trial on stage 4. The world champion delivered a demonstration to finish 1:01 ahead of Vingegaard in 2nd, while Florian Lipowitz finished 3rd at 1:22. Evenepoel was fifth on the stage at 1:50.

Evenepoel acknowledged he might have simply hit his limit during the final climb. "It's possible I just hit a wall," he said. "Perhaps it was a residual effect from my fall or just a bad day for me."

Despite the setback, Evenepoel was gracious in defeat and praised Pogacar's dominant performance. "He showed once again that he is the best cyclist in the world," Evenepoel said of his rival.

Saturday's stage promises to be even more demanding with three major Alpine tests at high altitude, but Evenepoel made it clear that he refuses to throw in the towel. “Tomorrow is a new day with maybe different legs," he said, maintaining optimism ahead of more big battles to come at this Dauphiné.