The first climbing exam of the season for Remco Evenpoel has turned out to be a minor fizzle.
The world champion was, however, perfectly shielded from the wind for a whole day by teammates Mørkøv and Lampaert, after which he seemed to dissolve his devils on the Alto Colorado itself.
At 10km from the end, Evenepoel took off like a rocket, the other favorites stayed put. He got to two remaining escapees in no time, but not much later we suddenly got to see a completely different world champion.
It seemed like he let the other favorites come back, but the Soudal-Quick Step leader simply couldn’t do better. When Miguel Angel Lopez and Sergio Higuita accelerated, Evenepoel surprisingly had to pass. The heat? The height? Or is he just not good enough yet?
Lopez then also drove off his compatriot and the surprisingly strong Filippo Ganna also failed to reach the Colombian, who was no longer able to get a place in the WorldTour due to doping allegations.
At almost 2,700m altitude, Lopez finally drove half a minute away from Ganna. Evenepoel crossed the finish line in 7th place, more than a minute from Lopez, who is almost certain of the overall victory.
