Remco Evenepoel fully lived up to his role as favorite in the Tour of the Algarve. The leader of Soudal Quick-Step won the Portuguese stage race for the third time in his career. Although he says he has room for improvement.
In the final, Evenepoel (24) was beaten for the second time by the Colombian Martinez, but Patrick Lefevere’s poulain came with a clear explanation as to why that happened. “I would have liked to win today, but there was a small mechanical problem behind it. That’s life,” he laughed afterwards Sporza.
Marge
The world time trial champion also addressed his teammates. “Men like Cattaneo and Landa, who use their experience in such a situation, are invaluable.”
In addition, Evenepoel issued a clear warning for its competitors. “I am one of the only ones here at the start without an altitude training course and I win. That’s not bad and I will still improve.”
Van Aert
Evenepoel briefly lost the leader’s jersey to Wout van Aert in the last stage. But there was no concern. “It was still far. And with all those steep climbs. One minute was a lot, but we must not forget that Wout is someone from a different weight class than the men who went for a stage win.”
“Thank you for trying,” Evenepoel praised his compatriot. He made the race hard and broke it open early. But we handled it well and remained calm.”
