'Sheer determination' keeps Evenepoel in Tour podium fight
Remco Evenepoel's Tour de France podium hopes seemed over when he was distanced on the Col du Soulor, but the Belgian managed to limit the damage. Tadej Pogacar is unassailable in yellow, but Evenepoel ends the first day in the Pyrenees in third overall.
Rarely can such a heavy defeat have felt like a victory of sorts for Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian’s prospects of winning the Tour de France have faded completely after he lost 3:35 to Tadej Pogačar at Hautacam, but the Belgian will draw solace from how he rescued his podium hopes after struggling throughout the day.
When Evenepoel was distanced by Visma | Lease a Bike’s forcing on the lower slopes of the Col du Soulor, it looked as though his podium challenge had already evaporated. His leaden pedalling put one in mind of his collapse on the Tourmalet at the 2023 Vuelta a España, but Evenepoel fought to limit his losses to a minute by the summit.
After a fraught descent, Evenepoel steadied himself on the category 2 Col des Bordères and rejoined the GC group on the run-in to the foot of Hautacam. He was distanced again at the very foot of the climb, but he did enough to place seventh on the stage, and he now lies third overall, 4:45 behind the unassailable Pogačar.
“I’m happy I didn’t give up,” Evenepoel told Sporza, adding that he had limited the damage through “sheer determination” over the final 50km of the stage.
The 24-year-old also had the poise not to venture too deeply into his reserves when he began to struggle in the heat on the Soulor, and he was paced by teammate Ilan Van Wilder on the upper portion of the climb.
“My legs were just full,” Evenepoel said. “I didn't have the best feeling, certainly not the feeling I’d hoped for on the first two climbs. So I immediately opted for my own pace."
"At first, I rode quite slowly. Then Ilan set the pace, and after that, I was able to accelerate. So maybe it was a good idea to slow down a bit.”
Evenepoel proceeded to recoup the lost ground on the descent and on the following Col des Bordères, though he must already have known the 13.5km haul to the finish at Hautacam was going to be an exercise in damage limitation.
“I rode down as fast as I could, taking quite a few risks,” he said. “Then I rode really hard on that intermediate climb to close the gap as quickly as possible. After the top, it was 20 seconds, so I threw myself back down like a stone.”
Evenepoel was dropped from the GC group even before Pogačar launched his stratospheric winning attack. The Belgian would concede 1:25 to Jonas Vingegaard and 1:12 to dangerman Florian Lipowitz on the ascent.
“It was all about finding my own pace as quickly as possible,” Evenepoel said of Hautacam. “That gap to Pogačar is immense, but compared to the rest, it’s not too bad. So, I'm actually happy that I persevered and didn't give up and just drop everything.”
Evenepoel is now 1:14 behind the second-placed Vingegaard, but Lipowitz is just 49 seconds behind him in fourth overall. Friday’s mountain time trial to Peyragudes will reveal more about Evenepoel’s prospects. For now, at least, he appears to be in a battle with Lipowitz for the third spot on the podium.
“I mainly have to look at myself, because I’m still ahead of him. Tomorrow, it'll be a battle against myself in the uphill time trial, but that goes for everyone,” Evenepoel said.
“I'm going to try to recover well and hope this was my worst day. I'm going to give it my all tomorrow and try to consolidate my podium position a bit. And then we'll see how I’m doing tomorrow evening.”
