Le Tour: Evenepoel fights tooth and nail in the Massif Central
![Le Tour: Evenepoel fights tooth and nail in the Massif Central](/images/news_article/c_c/800x400/remco-evenepoel-le-tour-stage-11_1720630066.jpg)
Remco Evenepoel showed grit, determination and a fantastic never-say-die attitude on what went down as the most explosive stage of the race so far, a 211km trek through the Massif Central which ended up having a bigger impact on the general classification that the mythical Col du Galibier, one week ago.
After five hours of breathless racing, gruelling gradients, more than 4000 vertical meters and insane speeds, Soudal Quick-Step’s leader demonstrated calmness, pulling off a massive performance. Evenepoel, who is racing his maiden Tour de France, was distanced on Pas de Peyrol – the hardest climb of the day, averaging 8.1% over 3.8 kilometers – but never gave up and recovered well on the descent and the remaining two climbs, where he joined Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).
Despite trailing by around 50 seconds going into the final 15 kilometers, Remco rode his own pace that allowed him not only to increase the gap over the first chasing group, but also to mount a remarkable recovery on the roads to Le Lioran. On the last climb, the 24-year-old custodian of the white jersey managed to claw back time on his way to an impressive third place, just 25 seconds down on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who took the stage win after outsprinting Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates).
“Everybody knows the first two guys are on another level, so I’m satisfied with today. It was very fast and explosive from the start, a relentless stage from kilometer zero all the way until the finish. Maybe I wasn’t quite at my best, because I struggled a bit when the attacks came with 30 kilometers to go, but I didn’t panic and just rode my own rhythm.”
“It was hard out there, but I continued pushing and believing, trying my best to make up ground. I didn’t lose too much time today, so I need to be content with how things turned out. I also took time on the other guys and increased my margin in the general classification while retaining second place, so I can say it was a good stage. We need to remain focused, continue to do our best and build on these very good results”, an upbeat Remco said after taking his 36th white jersey in a Grand Tour.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
4:58:00 |
2 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
0:00 |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
0:25 |
4 |
Primož Roglič Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
0:25 |
5 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
1:47 |
6 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
1:49 |
7 |
Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates |
1:49 |
8 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:49 |
9 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
1:55 |
10 |
Felix Gall Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team |
2:38 |
35 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
16:23 |
51 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
22:54 |
56 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
25:17 |
100 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
29:43 |
108 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
29:57 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
45:00:34 |
2 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:06 |
3 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
1:14 |
4 |
Primož Roglič Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
2:15 |
5 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
4:20 |
6 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
4:40 |
7 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
5:38 |
8 |
Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates |
6:59 |
9 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
7:09 |
10 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
7:36 |
29 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
33:16 |
43 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
58:36 |
79 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:34:32 |
108 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:49:40 |
133 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:03:46 |
1 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty |
267 pt |
2 |
Jasper Philipsen Alpecin - Deceuninck |
193 pt |
3 |
Anthony Turgis TotalEnergies |
121 pt |
4 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
107 pt |
5 |
Fernando Gaviria Rendon Movistar Team |
100 pt |
6 |
Bryan Coquard Cofidis |
98 pt |
7 |
Arnaud De Lie Lotto Dstny |
98 pt |
8 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
88 pt |
9 |
Arnaud Démare |
83 pt |
10 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
82 pt |
47 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
20 pt |
77 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
8 pt |
78 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
7 pt |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
36 pt |
2 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
33 pt |
3 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
28 pt |
4 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
18 pt |
5 |
Valentin Madouas Groupama - FDJ |
16 pt |
6 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
12 pt |
7 |
Stephen Williams Israel - Premier Tech |
10 pt |
8 |
Frank van den Broek Team dsm-firmenich PostNL |
9 pt |
9 |
Primož Roglič Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe |
9 pt |
10 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
8 pt |
16 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
4 pt |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
45:01:40 |
2 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
3:34 |
3 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
6:03 |
4 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
7:50 |
5 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
8:35 |
6 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
11:02 |
7 |
Javier Romo Movistar Team |
14:35 |
8 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
32:10 |
9 |
Thomas Pidcock INEOS Grenadiers |
48:42 |
10 |
Oscar Onley Team dsm-firmenich PostNL |
50:56 |
1 | UAE Team Emirates | 135:10:57 |
2 | Soudal Quick-Step | 21:03 |
3 | INEOS Grenadiers | 22:22 |
4 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 24:14 |
5 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 32:20 |
6 | Bahrain - Victorious | 43:55 |
7 | Movistar Team | 47:03 |
8 | Lidl - Trek | 54:39 |
9 | EF Education - EasyPost | 1:06:01 |
10 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 1:22:29 |