No victory for Remco Evenepoel in the opening time trial of the Tour of the Basque Country. The world champion against the clock fell in the second corner of the course. He was unable to fully defend his chances and was 11 seconds slower than stage winner Primoz Roglic at the finish, good for fourth place.
Maarten Vanhoof and Maxime Caeyman
Today at 4:52 PM
“What happened in the beginning? I slipped away. That can happen,” Remco Evenepoel analyzed his fall. “In the images it looks as if my wheel is sliding on a black grid. It happened so quickly that I didn’t realize what had happened. I don’t think I took too many risks. But of course it is only a 10 kilometer time trial, so you want to get through a bend as quickly as possible. Maybe I threw myself a little too much.”
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During the reconnaissance, Tom Pidcock also crashed on the technical course. “I don’t know what happened to him,” Evenepoel admitted. “The circuit was certainly not too dangerous. Sometimes easier options could have been taken, but that is not up to me. I am not the course designer. You take risks yourself and if you fall on the ground it is your own fault. It was a very nice time trial. The start was technical with many narrow bends. But that’s for everyone. It’s my own fault that I was there.”
“In such a time trial you know in advance that it is difficult to win if you make a mistake,” the world champion continued. We just took a look: I think I ended up standing still for 13 seconds. You then have to add a few more before you get back up to speed. Because of that whole thing I lose about 20 seconds. That’s the difference between winning and losing. I would have normally finished ahead of Roglic, but that is always easy to say afterwards. I shouldn’t have fallen.”
Do not leave the cup hanging
Yet the ‘Aerokogel van Schepdaal’ could look back on his time trial with a good feeling. “In general I am very satisfied. I haven’t given up. I could have hung my cup and lost a minute, but I didn’t do that. I overtook Kuss and ended up doing a good time trial. It’s a shame, but on to tomorrow. What does my deficit mean for the rankings? Nothing, there are still five days.”
Evenepoel suffered no injuries from his fall. He does have some abrasions on his right flank.
© Maxime Caeyman
Tags: VIDEO Remco Evenepoel crashes corners opening time trial Tour Basque Country fault
