Belgians endure a nightmare day in the UAE — with Evenepoel worst hit: “The level is too high for Remco right now”

Evenepoel started this UAE Tour as one of the two standout favourites and put himself in a perfect position by winning the individual time trial. In the leader’s jersey, he then began the first mountain stage — but on the brutally steep Jebel Mobrah he paid for his efforts and haemorrhaged time to his rivals. Any hope of overall victory effectively disappeared there and then.

On the iconic climb to Jebel Hafeet, the Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe captain was hoping for revenge. He arrived fired up and had spoken beforehand about targeting at least the stage win. He backed up those intentions by turning the screw relatively early on the climb, trying to put pressure on the other contenders. But it soon became clear there was no comeback coming: with four kilometres to go, he had to let the favourites ride away.

In the end, Evenepoel finished 15th, 52 seconds down on stage and overall winner Isaac del Toro. Team director Klaas Lodewyck was brutally realistic afterwards. “Remco didn’t have the legs to fight for the win,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “He did everything he needed to do all day, but the level of this race is too high for Remco at the moment.”

Evenepoel had been hoping to land overall victory for a second time in what he called a “second home race”, but the final outcome was disappointing. “That’s true,” Lodewyck admitted. “There isn’t much more to say right now. We can see Remco doesn’t have the legs he had in Valencia. After tomorrow, it’ll be time for a few days of rest. Then we’ll go to Tenerife for a training camp, to be ready for the Volta a Catalunya.”

Evenepoel largely echoed his director’s assessment. “I’m riding my numbers, but it keeps getting faster and faster,” the Belgian said, while insisting it will feel ‘normal’ again later in the season. “I don’t have the same feeling as in Valencia. It’s good that the training camp is coming. In Catalunya, I’ll be riding at a different level.”

So what, exactly, was going on? The reigning world time trial champion hinted he never felt fully right in the Emirates. “It wasn’t my best week. I felt better today, but I was also a bit congested — a little sick. But those aren’t excuses,” he stressed. “Of course I’m disappointed. I would have liked to fight for the win twice and be able to compete with Antonio Tiberi and Del Toro.”

With Evenepoel out of the picture on stage three, fellow Belgians Van Eetvelt (third) and Van Wilder (ninth) had emerged as the best-placed general classification hopes. At that point, they sat fourth and sixth overall and had a real shot at the podium — but on Jebel Hafeet that dream collapsed. Van Eetvelt finished 12th, 48 seconds down, while Van Wilder came home 18th, at 1:05. Podium ambitions: gone.