'This doesn't change the mindset' - Evenepoel unfazed by Del Toro's early UAE Tour blow

Evenepoel came home in 20th place on stage 1 to Liwa Palace, where Del Toro upset the sprinters by accelerating to victory on the drag to the finish line. Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws afterwards, the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider acknowledged that he hadn’t seen Del Toro’s winning move.

“No, not really, because I was kind of on the wrong side – always in the wind, actually,” Evenepoel said. “I was sitting a bit behind the pure, heavier sprinters and they gradually started to drop off, so I always had to come around them in the wind. It was still pretty tough just to stay there, but in the end, I did what I had to do. I wasn’t going to sprint anyway, so I didn’t really have the mindset to go for it anymore.”

Del Toro’s stage win put him in the red jersey of race leader and the winner’s time bonus means that he has an early 10-second buffer on Evenepoel in the overall standings. Evenepoel will have an immediate opportunity to strike back in Tuesday’s 12km time trial at Hudayriyat Island before the first summit finish of the race on the new climb of Jebel Mobrah on Wednesday.

“We know how it works here, that’s the bonus game,” Evenepoel said of his early deficit. “Maybe the only downside is that he gets to wear a different skinsuit tomorrow and all that, but a leader’s jersey always gives motivation. I’m just going to focus on my time trial and try to make the most of it.”

Evenepoel is the world champion in the time trial and he already scored a win in the discipline at the recent Volta Comunitat Valenciana, but he was reluctant to speculate on the time gaps to Del Toro here.

“Ultimately, this doesn’t change the tactics and mindset for tomorrow,” Evenepoel told Sporza. 

“The flat time trial tomorrow should be in my favour. [Del Toro] is someone who’s very strong and will be very motivated. My goal has to be to win the time trial and try to take over the leader’s jersey.”

The opening leg of the UAE Tour continued the early-season trend of races being modified due to the weather conditions. Midway through the stage, the jury took the decision to cut the stage by 26km, eliminating a stretch along a cycle track that had been made treacherous by high winds blowing sand onto the course.

“It was pretty hectic,” Evenepoel said. “On the way, we got the information that we were going to do a different loop because apparently there was a bit too much sand on the bike path. Then we had to adjust the tactics a bit, and in the end, we just did what we had to do. 

“We tried to bring Finn [Fisher-Black] to the front in the final straight. I think he was just behind the crash that happened right behind me, so that was a bit unfortunate. And then I just had to fight to make sure I didn’t lose any time.”