Evenepoel impresses on first summit finish of Le Tour
![Evenepoel impresses on first summit finish of Le Tour](/images/news_article/c_c/800x400/remco-evenepoel-le-tour-stage-14_1720892309.jpg)
Ten years on from its previous appearance, Pla d’Adet made its Tour de France return, at the end of a tough stage 14 that also featured the iconic Col du Tourmalet and Hourquette d’Ancizan. The climb made famous in 1974 by Raymond Poulidor, who took a fantastic solo win from a field that included the likes of Eddy Merckx and Joaquim Agostinho, averaged 7.9% over 10.6 kilometers and ended up seriously testing the GC men.
Soudal Quick-Step was one of the strongest teams out there, and only one of the two to tackle the last HC ascent with more than three men. Remco Evenepoel, who started the day second in the overall standings, had Jan Hirt, Mikel Landa and Ilan Van Wilder with him as they started the steep gradients of Pla d’Adet. The Wolfpack pushed a solid tempo at the front, making sure Evenepoel remained in a good position on the first three kilometers, the toughest of the climb.
When the winners of the last four editions attacked with five kilometers to go, Remco at first tried to respond to these accelerations before deciding to ride his own tempo as he conjured up a valiant effort to limit the losses. This allowed the 24-year-old Belgian to keep enough in the tank for the final part of the stage, while at the same time opening a good gap on the first chasing group. Evenepoel concluded the stage won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in third place – his fourth podium of this edition – and now sits in the same position on the general classification ahead of the second consecutive day in the Pyrenees.
“Third on this hard stage is a good result and I am satisfied, especially as the two guys who finished in front of me were stronger and have a lot more experience than me in these kinds of stages. The team did a great job the entire day, and especially on the final climb, and I want to thank them for that. To be on the podium on the first stage in the Pyrenees is an important morale-boost for Sunday’s stage. I have four minutes on the next rider in the rankings, which is good at the moment, but the Tour is still long and we need to remain at the top of our game and continue to give our best”, said Remco, who remained at the top of the youth classification.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
4:01:51 |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
0:39 |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:10 |
4 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
1:19 |
5 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
1:23 |
6 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
1:23 |
7 |
Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates |
1:23 |
8 |
Felix Gall Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team |
1:26 |
9 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
1:29 |
10 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
1:29 |
11 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
1:29 |
30 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
10:53 |
35 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
11:57 |
74 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
27:22 |
111 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
35:25 |
DNF |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step |
-04:01:51 |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
56:42:39 |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
1:57 |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:22 |
4 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
6:01 |
5 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
6:09 |
6 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
7:17 |
7 |
Adam Yates UAE Team Emirates |
8:32 |
8 |
Giulio Ciccone Lidl - Trek |
9:09 |
9 |
Derek Gee Israel - Premier Tech |
9:33 |
10 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
10:35 |
25 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
44:19 |
70 |
Gianni Moscon
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:04:44 |
91 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:20:08 |
128 |
Yves Lampaert
Soudal Quick-Step |
2:53:33 |
1 |
Biniam Girmay Hailu Intermarché - Wanty |
353 pt |
2 |
Jasper Philipsen Alpecin - Deceuninck |
277 pt |
3 |
Bryan Coquard Cofidis |
147 pt |
4 |
Arnaud De Lie Lotto Dstny |
142 pt |
5 |
Anthony Turgis TotalEnergies |
141 pt |
6 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
133 pt |
7 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
116 pt |
8 |
Wout van Aert Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
114 pt |
9 |
Pascal Ackermann Israel - Premier Tech |
102 pt |
10 |
Fernando Gaviria Rendon Movistar Team |
100 pt |
11 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
97 pt |
47 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
25 pt |
83 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
7 pt |
1 |
Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates |
56 pt |
2 |
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
43 pt |
3 |
Jonas Abrahamsen Uno-X Mobility |
36 pt |
4 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
30 pt |
5 |
Oier Lazkano López Movistar Team |
27 pt |
6 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
22 pt |
7 |
David Gaudu Groupama - FDJ |
20 pt |
8 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
17 pt |
9 |
Valentin Madouas Groupama - FDJ |
16 pt |
10 |
Bruno Armirail Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team |
12 pt |
22 |
Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step |
4 pt |
1 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal Quick-Step |
56:45:01 |
2 |
Carlos Rodríguez Cano INEOS Grenadiers |
3:47 |
3 |
Matteo Jorgenson Team Visma | Lease a Bike |
8:13 |
4 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
8:52 |
5 |
Ben Healy EF Education - EasyPost |
13:23 |
6 |
Javier Romo Movistar Team |
18:31 |
7 |
Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal Quick-Step |
41:57 |
8 |
Tobias Halland Johannessen Uno-X Mobility |
1:17:59 |
9 |
Romain Grégoire Groupama - FDJ |
1:20:42 |
10 |
Jordan Jegat TotalEnergies |
1:22:18 |
1 | UAE Team Emirates | 170:20:36 |
2 | Soudal Quick-Step | 31:41 |
3 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 32:08 |
4 | INEOS Grenadiers | 35:56 |
5 | Bahrain - Victorious | 1:06:32 |
6 | Movistar Team | 1:17:43 |
7 | Lidl - Trek | 1:18:06 |
8 | EF Education - EasyPost | 1:32:33 |
9 | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 1:41:51 |
10 | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 1:53:30 |