A solid start for the World Champion in his first outing since the Giro d’Italia.
Remco Evenepoel returned to racing for the first time since mid-May, and the 23-year-old produced a strong ride on the opening day of the Tour de Suisse, a 12.7km individual time trial held around Einsiedeln. Our last rider to roll down the ramp, Remco confirmed his solid form by coming close to victory Sunday afternoon, only six seconds separating him from the first yellow jersey.
The Belgian ITT Champion averaged a remarkable 55.96km/h on the flat course that suited the specialists of the discipline, and after going second-fastest through the race’s only checkpoint, he crossed the finish line as runner-up with a time of 13:37, just behind Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ). This result brought him two visits to the podium, where Remco got in possession of the youth and KOM jerseys.
“I am satisfied with my ride, my first after all this time, more than three weeks since my last race. Stefan deserved the victory today. I struggled a bit with the power and speed in the last part of the stage, but overall, it’s a good start. We will continue to take it day by day and see what we can do here”, Remco said after his 22nd podium in a World Tour stage race.
Photo credit: ©Heinz Zwicky / Getty Images
