Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 21-year-old is one time trial away from winning his sixth stage race in the pro ranks.
Sporting the turquoise jersey which he donned Thursday afternoon after his impressive solo exhibition in Vejle and holding a comfortable buffer in the overall standings, Remco Evenepoel counted on a strong team to protect him and set the tempo behind the eight escapees, none of whom posed a threat to his GC ambitions, on the 188.4km stage 4 between Holbæk and Kalundborg.
The route was an undulating one and had plenty of narrow and twisty roads which unsurprisingly led to some crashes, but the young Belgian was at all times perfectly positioned in the bunch thanks to his teammates and avoided all the pile-ups. Shane Archbold, Iljo Keisse and Jannik Steimle controlled the stage from kilometer zero and delivered Evenepoel safely home, just a couple of seconds behind Colin Joyce (Rally Cycling), who claimed the victory from the breakaway.
Ahead of the final stage of the Danmark Rundt, a short individual time trial in Frederiksberg, Remco leads by more than a minute and a half and is in the driving seat to wrap up the general classification and become the youngest winner in the race’s history.
“It was a nervous stage from start to finish, because of all those small roads, but the team did a great job, for which I am grateful. Our goal from the beginning was to keep the leader’s jersey and that worked out really well, as the entire team remained focused and gave their best for this”, Evenepoel explained after the stage. “Concerning Saturday’s ITT, it will be special to start with the jersey on my shoulders and I will ride as fast as possible to retain it.”
Photo credit: ©Mario Stiehl
