'This is modern cycling' – Remco Evenepoel draws positives from explosive Dauphiné opener

Remco Evenepoel wasn’t necessarily expecting a dust-up between the overall contenders on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, but he knew he had to be ready for the eventuality all the same. Such is cycling in the 2020s.

The short, sharp Côte de Buffon was always likely to burn off some of the pure sprinters in the finale, but it also proved to be a launchpad for a skirmish between the three favourites for this race and next month’s Tour de France.

World champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the five-up sprint from Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while Evenepoel had to settle for fourth on the stage after a breathless finale.

“It was a bit of a surprise to have raced the final for the stage win, but that’s where modern cycling goes. You never know what to expect in a final like this,” Evenepoel said after taking the white jersey of best young rider. “In the end, it was a nice bit of racing, and I think we just got it because Mathieu went early. Otherwise, I think the bunch would have come over us. It was pretty special and pretty nice to be up there, so positive signs.”

The winning move was sparked by Vingegaard over the top of the Côte de Buffon with a shade under 7km to go, and Pogačar, Van der Poel and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) quickly joined him. Evenepoel was caught out of position on the climb itself, but he bridged the gap with striking ease over the other side before playing a key role in keeping the move just clear of the closing peloton.

“I was a bit far back because I thought it would be a sprint today,” Evenepoel admitted “I had to jump from a long way back, but I stayed calm and I had the strength to close the gap quite quickly. I think it was a nice finale, but I hope it’s not like that the next two days…”

Despite his impressive showing, Evenepoel missed out on bonus seconds at the finish after he was unable to match the speed of Pogačar, Vingegaard and Van der Poel. He thus lies fifth in the overall standings, ten seconds behind Pogačar and six behind Vingegaard. He confessed afterwards that he had launched his own effort too early in the finishing straight.

“It was headwind,” Evenepoel said. “Normally, Mathieu is the quickest of the group, and he launched at 250m to go, but with the headwind, it was pretty difficult to stay up there. I think I came out of Mathieu’s wheel a little too soon. 

“Tadej and Jonas came last out of the wheels, and that’s the reason the sprint ended up like this. Normally, on paper, Mathieu would win easily, but he launched from far out so he could at least have a shot at a stage win. I think it was good for racing, but a bitter feeling for the sprinters, I guess, with all the work they did. That’s racing.”