Evenepoel on Song, Goes Close to First-Ever Road Victory at Tour de France

So far, so good. Remco Evenepoel ripped up the traditional rulebook in his preparation for the Tour de France, taking a complete break from racing in what some saw as a big gamble to find form.

Over two months of specialist training and a near-four kilo weight loss seem to have paid off, with a stomping performance in Saturday’s team time trial and a near-miss for the stage win on Sunday.

Evenepoel crossed the line in Barcelona third behind Isaac Del Toro and UAE teammate Tadej Pogačar, a fine result but one which could have been even better.

He rolled the dice and things didn’t quite work out the way he planned.

“It’s clear I would have liked to win, to take my first road stage on the Tour de France,” the Belgian explained after the stage, speaking to Cyclism’Actu and others. “But I took a bit of a risk by losing a few meters in the last corner to go up the hill at the finish.

“I was hoping they would slow down a little in front, and then I could jump them behind, accelerate from their backs. But they had the same idea.

“They accelerated right from the start [of the climb], actually. That’s why I stayed with that gap and I was able to close it down a little at the finish line.”

Deliberately holding back when the final action is unfolding is something that could have gone either way. Had Del Toro stalled, it could have worked out very well for Evenepoel.

“It was a risk, I knew it. But well, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Today, unfortunately, it was close.”

‘Happy with the feeling’

Evenepoel started the Tour as one of two leaders at the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team. He shares equal billing with Florian Lipowitz, the German rider who followed up Evenepoel’s podium finish in 2024 with his own.

Both are very ambitions riders but, thus far, Evenepoel has increased the chances that Lipowitz could end up working for him, rather than the other way around.

He dropped him on the final climb of Saturday’s team time trial, gaining 16 seconds. He then finished ten seconds in front of him on Sunday, placing third to Lipowitz’s 16th place.

Together with the time bonus for third, his lead over his teammate is now 30 seconds.

Evenepoel is 15 seconds behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard, who he passed close to the line on Sunday.

His strong ride Sunday saw him move up two places overall to third. He will begin Monday’s third stage nine seconds behind Pogačar, and one ahead of Del Toro.

More importantly, he is feeling much better than last year’s race, when he started very run down after getting his preparation and weight loss wrong.

“I felt good,” he said. “I’m happy with the feeling, with positioning, the bike, everything was pretty good. So pretty good first days, tomorrow is another big day so we have to be ready again.”

Getting quickly up to speed

Importantly, Evenepoel’s morale is also very positive.

“I think it is good to start with good results. Also it is two stages that suited me well, a TTT and then a punchy final circuit where I have won already in the past.”

There was a danger he would be a little rusty after more than two months out of competition. Thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Obviously it is always a bit strange to come back into this very explosive racing rhythm so I felt that a bit,” he said. “But I think it’s all good after two days.

“I hope to stay healthy and to continue like this. That would be pretty good.”

Pretty good is an understatement. He will head into Monday’s stage greatly reassured by how he is feeling. Factor in the possibility that he will gain more sharpness in the days ahead and he, his team and his supporters will be hopeful of a very successful Tour campaign.