Remco Evenepoel never so fast
Three-time world time trial champion Remco Evenepoel lived up to expectations, taking victory in the Breitling ITT Stage on the island of Al Hudayriyat and, in addition to the stage win, also taking the Red Jersey as leader of the general classification. With his seventh success of the season, Evenepoel covered the 12.2 kilometers of the course in 13’03” at an average of over 56 km/h, enough time to leave Joshua Tarling (at 6″) and Rémi Cavagna (at 12″) behind.
Former Maglia Rossa Isaac Del Toro finished with a delay of 42″, the same time as Ben O’Connor, finishing behind other GC men such as Antonio Tiberi (34″) and Derek Gee (35″). Further behind were Michael Storer (47″), Felix Gall (57″), Lennert Van Eetvelt (1’03”) and Adam Yates (1’04”).
On Wednesday, the general classification is set for a new shakeup with the unprecedented uphill finish at Jebel Mobrah: 14.9 kilometers with an average gradient of 8.6 percent, with constant ramps over 12 percent in the last 6 kilometers.
“I couldn’t go any faster today,” said the Belgian. “It was a short and very explosive time trial, not my favorite. It suited Joshua Tarling a little bit better, but I set the best time at the intermediate bearing and in the second part I went a little bit faster than the others. It is my fastest individual time trial ever, thanks to a combination of factors: I was able to express all the power, the temperature was perfect, the asphalt was also perfect, there were few corners. I am satisfied with all the conditions today. The wind was quite strong and arrived earlier than expected, so maybe it affected less than we thought yesterday, but our choice allowed me to start the recovery earlier. In the end I am happy with the decision I made, because I had planned to be ready for an early start. I am very curious about tomorrow’s stage. I have been training on longer efforts and have a 30” lead over most of my opponents. I will do my best to win the UAE Tour”.
“I think the wind was a little stronger and in a slightly different direction than last year. In the first straight, last year it was more sideways, but today it was contrary. Of course I would have preferred to win, but I gave everything. Definitely in the future we have to try to beat Remco Evenepoel. I just need to file down some details. We will get there. We are not far, there are just some things to be fixed. For the rest of the UAE Tour I will try to make a good lead out for Sam Welsford and tomorrow, with the climb, we will protect Embret Svestad-Bårdseng and Peter Øxenberg and see how it goes” noted White Jersey Joshua Tarling.
