The Grand Prix double wasn’t to be for Remco Evenepoel on Sunday afternoon, with the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider having to fight from behind to finish fifth in the GP de Montréal after missing the form that saw him win in Québec just 48 hours earlier.
Though fifth in the end was far from a bad result for the Belgian, it came at the end of a hard day that saw him have to chase back up to the lead, and ultimately struggle to match the accelerations of the top riders.
He was quick to admit that it wasn’t his best day, but equally clear that that wasn’t a huge cause for concern ahead of his search for a rainbow jersey – or two – at the fast-approaching World Championships.
Latest Videos FromCyclingnews
“It wasn’t really a good day for me,” Evenepoel said at the finish. “I didn’t really have good feelings today, but I fought hard for a good position in the finale. It’s clear that this course is one where you need to have freshness and a real punch, and I found that I was lacking a bit of that today.
“But I battled through and finished fifth, it’s not a bad result at all, so I have to be happy with what I managed to pull off today, and on Friday.”
You may like
He admitted that Sunday’s parcours was more challenging than in Québec, ramping up the climbing, which was perhaps his undoing.
“Friday involved just one climb, a five-minute effort, followed by a bit of recovery, so you could hide a little. But here, in the finale, you descend for four or five minutes, then hit another rise, descend again, hit another rise… it’s constantly going up or down. You really need good legs to race the way Paul [Seixas] and Isaac [del Toro] did.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“Overall, I’m happy with the weekend I had, despite not feeling great today, so now we’ll shift our focus to the time trial, because that’s coming up quickly.”
Though Friday was a nice win to have, Evenepoel has been clear all week that the real goals are still to come at the World Championships, where he will chase the rainbow jersey in both the time trial and the road race.
Sunday’s race was perhaps more important in that respect, as the course in Montréal will be the same in two weeks’ time, so despite not getting a podium result, Evenepoel – and all the riders – will have learnt a lot from the Grand Prix that they can take into Worlds.
What to read next
“It’s a course where you don’t really know when it ends until you’re actually there and you find yourself back at the finish line. There are climbs, descents, and lots of corners. But I still felt like things were going well today, I was consistently well-placed, positioning wasn’t too difficult.
“I think my legs weren’t quite the same as they were in Québec, I hadn’t fully recovered from Friday and yesterday’s transfer, but I don’t need start panicking,” he underlined. “There are still two weeks until the road race, and I have another big day coming up next Sunday. So we refocus and we move forward.”
The next phase of Evenepoel’s ‘Project Canada’ will begin immediately, with the Belgian riding out to Bromont, east of Montréal, on Monday to prepare for the Worlds.
“After that, I’ll have two days of recovery, followed by a few days of specific work on the time trial bike, and then a bit of tapering for Sunday,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. I think there are two great weeks ahead. Things have started well, so I hope I can keep that momentum going.”
For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You’ll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.