'A big surprise' - Remco Evenepoel distances Vuelta rivals in time trial

A few kilometres after the start in Elche, the reading on Remco Evenepoel’s power meter already told him it was going to be a good day, but he didn’t realise quite how good until he was ushered behind the podium at the finish in Alicante.

Evenepoel has succeeded in just about everything so far at this Vuelta a España, but he couldn’t quite manage to stifle a smile when he was informed of the time gap to Primoz Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) while he warmed down in a cooling vest after stage 10.

His Vuelta challenge, carefully calibrated by QuickStep-AlphaVinyl since last winter, had long been oriented around this 30.9km time trial on familiar, pan flat roads on the Costa Blanca. Evenepoel suspected he might win the stage and gain ground on his general classification rivals, but he hardly expected to put 48 seconds into Roglič, the man who has won the last three editions of the race.

“48? Well, that’s a big surprise,” Evenepoel said, all but performing a double take. “I saw that my teammate Remi [Cavagna, third at 1:00] did very well. It was perfect that he did such a good time trial for me, because when I was still sitting in the bus, I could everyone was slowing down in the last part compared to his time. I knew I just had to push one power all the time because it was flat with a super hard finish.”

Evenepoel averaged some 55.676kph in a display that was both an exhibition of power and a study in pacing. At the first intermediate check after 10km, he was already 21 seconds clear of Roglič, a gap that stretched out to 37 seconds by the 20km mark. He would tack on another 11 seconds on the final run along the coast to stretch his overall advantage on the Slovenian to 2:41.

Enric Mas (Movistar) is now third at 3:03, with Carlos Rodriguez (4th at 3:55) the only other rider within four minutes of his maillot rojo. Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) is nearly five minutes back, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) trails by nearly seven. Evenepoel can no longer pretend that a stage win or a high overall finish is the summit of his ambition. This Vuelta is now his race to lose.

“I’m in a big lead and I have a good feeling, so we’re just going to try to keep this red jersey as long as possible and try to keep a really good spot on GC: as high as possible I’m going to say,” Evenepoel said when he spoke with the Vuelta press room by video link. “I think so far, our Vuelta has been successful. There’s no stress anymore about a stage win and now we can think a bit about relaxing and controlling the race.”

Evenepoel’s stage win came on the closest thing to home roads he could find at this Vuelta. Since the beginning of his professional career, nearby Calpe has been a favoured training base, while part of his Vuelta preparation was spent a little further up the coast in the atmosphere-controlled rooms of the SyncroSfera ‘altitude’ hotel. He availed of the opportunity to ride the route of stage 10, even if he downplayed the importance of prior knowledge.

“It was more about feeling how fast the road would be for the gearing on my bike, but nothing crazy on the technical side,” he said. “I don’t think doing the TT three or four times was an advantage over doing it once this morning.”

Defence

While Evenepoel was feted on the podium, Roglič was evincing satisfaction at his own display, acknowledging that the red jersey, for now at least, is simply “on a different level” to everybody else. Roglič’s win in Laguardia on stage 4 already feels a long time ago. In the week since, Evenepoel has appeared in a race of his own.

“I just feel very well myself, the team is performing strong, everyone is in a good mood and happy, so we’re not thinking or talking too much about the others,” Evenepoel said. “I’m just happy with what I’ve shown until now and I just hope I can maintain this level until the end of the Vuelta.”

Therein lies the winning and losing of this Vuelta. Evenepoel’s advantage is such that Roglič, Mas et al cannot expect to overhaul it in small increments. They must now hope the 22-year-old endures a most calamitous off-day somewhere from here to Madrid.

The terrain grows more demanding later in the week, most notably at Sierra Nevada, and Evenepoel has, of course, never completed a Grand Tour in his young career. With that in mind, perhaps, he hinted at a less offensive approach from here on. He must manage his energy as well as his advantage.

“I didn’t expect to have a lead like that at this point of the Vuelta,” Evenepoel said. “I think I’ll race more defensively now that I have a stage win. Like [Jonas] Vingegaard did at the Tour de France, if the legs and the chance is there, then you can still attack, but it would be easier to control my efforts and the race.”