La Vuelta – Remco Evenepoel or serenity incarnate – Eurosport EN

Remco Evenepoel raised his arms for the first time in the Vuelta 2022 on Thursday on the occasion of the arrival at Alto de Piornal. This will forever remain a special place for him, that of his first online victory on a grand tour after his success in the form of a demonstration on the Alicante time trial. That day, he was 2’41” ahead of a runner-up who was none other than the three-time defending champion, Primoz Roglic. Three days from Madrid, his lead is only 2’07” over an Enric Mas who promised him hell until the end. And yet, he keeps his calm. Remco Evenepoel has been proudly wearing the red jersey for two weeks now. On the 6th stage, he destroyed a groggy competition, with the exception of Enric Mas, to take the lead in the general classification. But the Pico Jano suited him perfectly, we heard. He would have more trouble later, why not in Les Praeres and more certainly on the two stages in Sierra Nevada.Tour of SpainEvenepoel: “Sprint, breakaway, favourites… Anything can happen today”2 HOURS AGO for Gesink, Mas impotent: relive the arrival of the 18th stageEvenepoel never goes into the redThis was the case and in two days, Roglic, Mas but also Lopez, Almeida, Rodriguez, Ayuso, Hindley and even Arensman took over from him time. Did he give in to panic? No. When the others attack him, Evenepoel tries to respond if he can. Aware of his strengths, he has never put himself in the red, advancing at his pace, which has allowed him not to sink and to be, more than ever, three days from the arrival in Madrid, the boss of the Tour of Spain. Suspense revived: an attack from Roglic and Evenepoel cracks “When Almeida attacked, it was perfect for me, Lopez started riding because he didn’t want Almeida to take time. It’s a game that I have to play in the next few days, starting tomorrow”, had almost prophesied Remco Evenepoel … Wednesday. This is exactly what happened again on the 18th stage beyond the Alto de Piornel. The Portuguese attacked from very far away (80 kilometers from the finish) but Evenepoel didn’t worry about it. You don’t ride on a runner who follows you at almost seven minutes. Without Ilan Van Wilder, for once absent at his side, Evenepoel has found allies of circumstances with the Astana of Miguel Angel Lopez. He stayed warm and he didn’t ask his men to work. They had no reason to. “We stayed calm. That’s what I learned the most today: stay calm,” smiled Evenepoel on arrival. Is the Quick-Step surprising? On this side, is the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl surprising? It has been said enough, enough written, that she had, so to speak, only a very limited experience in the field of the general classification of the grand tours not to note both her solidity and her serenity in all sorts of different situations. . That said, the structure was not born yesterday. Patrick Lefevere and his men have been pacing the big tours for many years and if racing a classic is obviously different, on the Tour of Flanders or other Liège-Bastogne-Liège, you learn very well to make the right decisions at the right time. If the current domination of Evenepoel obviously owes a lot to his head and his legs, forgetting the role of the headset in his possible success would be a serious error. Not the same error as Pogacar Unlike a Tadej Pogacar, can -being beaten on the Tour on his only tactical error from the Telegraph when he also wanted to follow Roglic instead of focusing on Vingegaard, Evenepoel could well still lose this Vuelta but it would, in all likelihood, be for physical considerations, not tactical ones . By pushing his opponents as soon as he could, the Belgian made Mas his probable only rival for the final victory. The incredible pass of arms: Vingegaard, Roglic and Pogacar attack in the Galibier what Remco Evenepoel would have done against a 100% and always present Primoz Roglic. It is true that the Slovenian seemed to have what it took to unseat him. But the absentees are always wrong and so far Evenepoel is right all along the line. He has three days left during which he will have to keep a cool head. It’s not much but obviously a lot for a 22-year-old kid who has never been near or far in such a situation. Tour of Spain General classification: Evenepoel digs in (a little), Rodriguez falls one place ONE DAYTour of SpainHe resists everything and offers himself the stage: Evenepoel always more dominatingA DAY AGO