A stunning long-range attack saw the 19-year-old neo-pro stay at the front for close to 100 kilometers.
People love winners, especially those who retain the power to dazzle, but from time to time, even those who don’t get the spoils at the end of the day turn heads and earn plaudits for their impressive exploits. This was the case on Friday, when Remco Evenepoel took stage 2 of the Deutschland Tour (Marburg – Göttingen, 202km) by the scruff of its neck after an intense and rapid start, going on the attack with over 100 kilometers left.
Winner of five races this season, including Clasica San Sebastian and the European ITT Championships, Remco went in time trial mode and with his arms tucked over his handlebars, he immediately opened a 3:30 maximum advantage over a peloton which looked incapable of reacting. As the kilometers ticked down and the crosswinds split the bunch, with many riders getting shed out the back, the Belgian continued to push hard, but the gap eventually began coming down, a result of several teams joining hands at the head of the main group.
It took a strong headwind and a string of short but leg-sapping hills to bring back Evenepoel, who was caught only nine kilometers from the finish, after spending a crazy 97 kilometers at the front, a sensational ride for which he took to the podium at the end of the stage to receive the most combative rider award.
“Today was very hard, with the up-and-down parcours and the incredibly strong headwind. I tried to go as far as possible and I deep inside me I had hoped I would do it, but I got caught on the climb and dropped. If they would have caught me over the top, maybe I could have stayed in the group, but this way it was impossible. I am not disappointed, today’s plan didn’t go out, but we will try again over the next two stages”, an unfazed Remco said at the finish.
Once he was reeled in, other riders attacked, but a strong effort of Danish ITT Champion Kasper Asgreen and Pieter Serry reabsorbed them with two kilometers to go, and the stage ended in a reduced bunch sprint, where Yves Lampaert expertly surfed wheels and took third, behind Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida).
This result, and the four bonus seconds picked up on the line, helped the former Belgian Champion move onto the Deutschland Tour podium with two hard days to go: “I had good legs today, but it’s not easy to beat these guys, who are obviously faster than me, so overall I’m happy with my result and with how I felt. A podium at the end of this long stage gives me a lot of confidence, so I look forward to the remaining two days.”
Photo credit: ©Bas Czerwinski/ Getty Images
