The 20-year-old Belgian gave us his thoughts after the first day of the Digital Swiss 5 series.
Race 1 of the newly-inaugurated Digital Swiss 5 consisted of a 26.6km-long virtual ride on a hilly course between Agarn and Leukerbad, that borrowed parts of the Tour de Suisse route. Deceuninck – Quick-Step was one of the teams to field three riders at the start – Dries Devenyns, Pieter Serry and Remco Evenepoel – and it was the young Belgian, a winner of five road races this season, who concluded as our top finisher, in seventh place.
“The race was quite fast from the start. I think I started a bit too easy and that’s why the other guys opened a gap almost immediately. I found myself behind the first group and had to chase back and ride hard before the start of the first climb, but I managed to keep my power steady and just ride my own tempo without blowing up”, Evenepoel explained. “Then I even caught some guys and worked myself into a top 5 position, but I was passed by two riders on a slight downhill section and from then on all I could do was keep the power. It was a hard but fun ride, a nice experience, and now I look forward to see the next races and how the others will do.”
Digital Swiss 5 continues Thursday with Race 2, which will bring Irish Champion Sam Bennett, Rémi Cavagna and Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv in the thick of the action.
Photo credit: ©Maximiliano Blanco / Getty Images
