Madrid is still far: the possible pitfalls for Remco Evenepoel in the Vuelta | Vuelta

The 3 uphill finishes leave no doubt: Remco Evenepoel is the best climber in this Vuelta a España.

That is also translated in the standings and the most striking thing is that Evenepoel has not (yet) launched a splitting attack to saddle his competition with red cheeks.

Evenepoel simply pulls the cart, imposes his pace and that is too ambitious for the “favorites”.

But the red jersey is also quite generous in his efforts to show his supremacy. Not only does he want the red, he also desperately wants a stage win.

Today’s time trial (Tuesday) offers him an excellent chance of a stage win and after that it would not be unwise to race rationally “à la Vingegaard”, as Evenepoel himself has already pointed out.

“I don’t have to attack per se, defending my leader’s jersey is the most important, like Vingegaard did in the Tour. Only when he felt better than the others did he attack,” he said on Friday.

Or as José De Cauwer puts it: “Evenepoel can remain eager. He just has to make sure that he does not make unnecessary efforts. Efforts that cost a lot of effort and yield nothing.”

There is slightly less attention than during the Tour de France, but the corona virus is also a banana peel in this Vuelta.

The leaders have not yet dropped out, but many teams have not succeeded in keeping the animal out completely.

They have also been hit at Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl: Pieter Serry has gone home and the leader’s team is tightening up the measures.

The riders no longer sleep together and the use of mouth masks is becoming even stricter, also on the bus.

And besides corona, there is also the heat. “I try not to look at it as rivals, otherwise it will play up mentally,” said the leader.

“We are as careful as possible. Even after the finish I use a mouth mask on the rollers as a precaution.”

The love story between Remco Evenepoel and Spain got some fresh chapters last week.

It was predictable that the Basque Country would be his playground. The fact that he was so crushing in the Asturias testifies to an enormous progression on the very steep (Spanish) climbs.

Peaks of up to 15 to 20 percent are no longer an enemy, but a relatively unknown factor is still ahead on Sunday.

The peloton visits the Sierra Nevada and the finish of that 15th stage is at an altitude of 2,500 meters.

In this way one still goes well above that magical limit of 2,000 meters and that remains more or less unexplored territory for Evenepoel.

There was already a test case in the Tour de Suisse and the result was not (extremely) satisfactory.

“This summer – in July and early August – I trained on this. On an internship in Livigno I slept at 2,300 meters, in the altitude hotel in Denia it was slightly higher,” said the youngster.

“How much? I won’t say that. Hopefully the owner (former pro Aleksandr Kolobnev) won’t either, because he’s quite loose-lipped (laughs).”

This Vuelta a España is not a baptism of fire for Remco Evenepoel in a grand tour, but his team insists that the 2021 Giro is not a reference. Then he got off after 17 rides.

That also means that Evenepoel has not yet completed a full Grand Tour and can therefore not yet estimate how his body will digest the race for 3 weeks, certainly not in this pole position as leader.

Cycling logic also states that a bad day is inevitable. Not to mention falls and bad luck.

However, the leader is not worried: “I have very good team leaders with Klaas Lodewyck and Geert Van Bondt and especially Davide Bramati has a lot of experience in big rounds and keeps me calm.”

“Julian Alaphilippe is a two-time world champion and knows what it’s like to handle pressure.”

“Dries Devenyns is one of the calmest guys I know, Louis Vervaeke exactly the same and then you have Ilan Van Wilder, Fausto Masnada and Rémi Cavagna, guys who drive themselves completely empty for me. We have the perfect recipe to keep everyone calm and keep the focus.”

After the swan song in the Giro, the Belgian cycling public seems to be holding back.

The pink madness of May 2021 has not yet got a red counterpart, but the closer Madrid gets, the greater the excitement on Belgian soil will be.

The leader in this Vuelta already stated before the Gran Salida that he was happy with his preparation in Spain, far away from all the opinions and advice that were already there before the start in Utrecht.

“Sorry, I do not know what is currently going on in the Belgian media”, Evenepoel shrugged his shoulders yesterday.

Teammate Julian Alaphilippe knows what such a starting position can unleash. In the Tour of 2019 he drove the French crazy.

“If you feel good, you have the desire to show yourself, but if you want to win a big round, you also have to stay calm. I give that advice to Remco.”

“We notice it in the car after every ride: Remco is euphoric, but on the other hand he also remains calm and above all respectful towards everyone”, osteopath Anthony Pauwels adds.

“I already knew it differently, that he can be short due to frustrations. But everything runs smoothly and that’s why he is calm.”

Confidential counselor and carer David Geeroms knows Evenepoel through and through. “He has grown up enormously and can put everything into perspective better.”

According to a cycling cliché, you win a Grand Tour not only on your bike, but also in your bed.

During a grueling 3-week stage race you have to use every moment of rest, but as a leader that recovery time shrinks considerably.

Podium ceremony, press talks, doping controls: Remco Evenepoel often reaches the finish line as one of the first, but usually leaves the finish location as the last student in the class.

His team does everything it can to protect Evenepoel as best as possible – the rollers are ready at the finish -, but every battery runs out sooner or later.

“We went through that thoroughly beforehand,” explains Evenepoel. “We said then: if it happens with a jersey or stage win, then a plan is needed, so that everything goes smoothly.”

“You don’t want to lose unnecessary time and that works. We try to finish everything as quickly as possible and to be in the car on time. My team is doing a perfect job.”

“I hope this red jersey gives the team wings, because we will need it,” Remco Evenepoel announced after his red conquest.

Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl does not have a reputation as a lap team and skeptics are still ready to prove them right, but so far the Belgian team has passed with flying colors.

“10 out of 10”, thinks the red jersey itself. The little train acts very mature indeed, can’t be fooled and everyone knows perfectly what is expected of him.

For example, Ilan Van Wilder abandons his personal ambitions in the time trial to save strength.

The blue brigade does not collapse under the stress, but has already lost a wagon with Pieter Serry.

“That is a big blow through our bill,” says Dries Devenyns. “He’s a workhorse and it’s important that we can alternate.”

But with the experience of, among others, road captain Devenyns and the peace of mind of Louis Vervaeke, such setbacks are also dealt with neatly for the time being.