They had to climb to the highest village in the Massif Central (at an altitude of 1,343 m) so that the warriors of Dauphiné could take off their long sleeves and take out their sun cream. Twenty-four hours after extricating themselves from the pea puree of the Col de la Loge, Remco Evenepoel and the others enjoyed arriving at Les Estables. This small town located at the foot of Mont Mézenc where the Loire has its Source did not encourage our compatriot to go on the attack. Finally, he would have liked to leave the reserve in which he has remained since Sunday but a racing incident prevented him from doing so. He was therefore unable to let his temper express itself for the first time this week. “Two kilometers from the finish, I realized that my front tire was flathe explained, while performing his recovery on his time trial machine. So I couldn’t try anything. Fortunately, he wasn’t completely exhausted, otherwise I would have given up some time.”
gullMy legs are turning better and better.
This was not the case and Evenepoel is now in 33rd place 0:13 behind Derek Gee, who scored twice in this corner of Haute-Loire. More than its ranking, the important thing is that it gains strength as the days go by. “As I said the day before, I don’t have too much pain (At the shoulder) when I ride. And I find that my legs are turning better and better every day. I feel like my body is getting back into competition rhythm. It’s very nice to see that I’m progressing.” Now comes the time (34.4 km) that he is waiting for to find out more about his current form. “I will finally know how I respond to short, very intense efforts. It is a technical course. This will, therefore, require changes in position. I hope it doesn’t cause any pain. But I think it will be enough to achieve a good performance. If I do well, the team will perhaps have more ambitions for the future. Now I need a good night’s rest, before I give everything I have”concludes the world time trial champion.
