Louis Vervaeke takes his first podium of the year after a hectic finish.
An undulating 160km stage that travelled from Irun to Kanbo, where a 350m uphill drag averaging 7% promised an exciting battle for victory is what the Itzulia Basque Country had in store Tuesday afternoon, when the peloton took on the race’s first road stage.
The rain which decided to make its appearance for the second straight day made for a very nervous peloton, and this led to numerous crashes in the last 15 kilometers. Fortunately, none of the Soudal Quick-Step riders were involved, and the team could escort Remco Evenepoel to the intermediate sprint, where the Belgian Champion snatched one second. This helped Remco move one place in the general classification, only ten seconds from the yellow jersey.
In the reduced sprint, Louis Vervaeke impressed with his fast turn of legs which netted him third, behind winner Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R), while Evenepoel concluded just a couple of places behind, in the same time.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
