Dissecting a Disappointment: What Went Wrong for Evenepoel at the UAE Tour?

Heading into the UAE Tour all odds were on a dramatic Remco Evenepoel – Isaac del Toro showdown for the overall.

Evenepoel’s big rival Tadej Pogačar was missing this year but, given his talent and career momentum, many anticipated that his teammate Del Toro would fill his shoes and put in a big, big push for the overall.

The predictions for those two riders were only 50% correct.

Del Toro lit up the final climb of Jabel Hafeet on Saturday and clobbered the competition. He romped home well ahead and is now poised to take his first-ever WorldTour stage win Sunday.

And Evenepoel? Despite a stirring start to the season, despite his six wins in eight days prior to flying to the UAE, his GC challenge collapsed following his stage 2 TT victory.

Evenepoel was dropped on Wednesday’s climb to Jebel Mobrah, but went into Saturday’s showdown determined to make a point.

For a while, an attack launched with just over 6km to go suggested he could still be on track.

But that effort faded and, with 5km remaining, Evenepoel drifted out the back of the GC group.

It was game over, his incredible early season momentum disappeared. It was a long way off his own expectations.

“I didn’t have the same feeling as in Valencia. I was a bit less fresh,” he said, according to Sporza. “Maybe I didn’t digest those races very well. I also got a bit sick afterwards.

“I also didn’t recover very well from my time trial. That’s not really usual for me.”

‘Quite a big gap to Del Toro’

The heat of the UAE Tour is one thing some have linked to his stage 3 faiblesse.

However Evenepoel isn’t on his first visit to the area. He competed on two previous occasions, first in 2019 and again in 2023.

Three years ago he won the overall, beating Luke Plapp by 59 seconds and Adam Yates by a minute.

He was second then to Yates on the stage to the top of Jabel Hafeet, racing to the summit just ten seconds behind.

Evenepoel indicted that particular performance was around the same power values as his 15th place on Saturday.

“But now I finish a minute behind. The race is getting faster and faster.”

Still, compared to his 18th place on stage 3, 2:04 behind, he regards Saturday’s result in a better light.

“In the end, it is quite a big gap to Del Toro. Compared to the rest, it’s still okay,” he said.

“That’s already a bit more positive than Wednesday. The feeling was better, and the numbers too. I didn’t explode like on Wednesday.

“But it wasn’t my best week. All in all, it was a good test to ride uphill as fast as possible for 20 minutes here.”

‘It’s unfortunate, but no harm was done’

Evenepoel moved across to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe over the winter and can now benefit from a team with a much bigger budget than Soudal Quick Step. It’s also got much more staffing support plus a big performance analytics center.

This year is about getting the best possible result in the Tour de France, but also about learning for the future. Sitting tenth overall in the UAE Tour is not what had been the aim but you can be sure that his performances will be dissected and the reasons for his lack of contention identified.

Directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck already has an hunch as to what may have been the issue.

“We came with great ambitions, but after the time trial, it was no longer as it should be. Today was an honest result. There was nothing more left in him,” he said.

“The time trial was very good, but perhaps it was the accumulation of many races in a very short period. It’s unfortunate that it went like this, but no harm was done.”

Winning the UAE Tour would have been a great result, and would have continued the momentum he had shown since the start of the year.

Evenepoel has got seven wins thus far, while rivals such as Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard haven’t yet pinned on any race numbers.

But, for sure, he and his team will take lessons from the UAE Tour and try to ensure that there will be less disappointments in the future.

It’s still very early in the season and he has ample time to be ready for the Tour.

Addressing the San Remo question

The UAE Tour concludes on Sunday with a flat stage to Abu Dhabi.

He’ll soon head back to Europe and take a break from competition.

Next up is altitude training, something he says he always responds well to.

Evenepoel told Sporza that he expects to “gradually lose weight and then become stronger.”

What’s clear for now is that he has no intention to ride Milan – San Remo.

That has been rumored by Italian media but he dismissed those suggestions this week. That race is on March 21st, something he feels it too close to the start of the Volta a Catalunya just two days later.

He sees the Catalan event as an important goal, both of itself and also as part of his work towards the Tour. The squad at that race will be broadly similar to the riders he will be lining out alongside in July.

As a result, a first-ever San Remo start must wait until another time.

Instead, performing well in Catalunya is a big target and while the UAE Tour didn’t go to plan, he will hope for much better there.

“In Catalunya, I will normally be back on another level. I always come back well from an altitude training camp.”

The UAE Tour was a disappointment but it’s not the end of the world. There’s a long season ahead and plenty of time to get things completely right.

The errors of spring may yet prove to be the making of his summer.