Crystal ball and climbing legs shine for Remco Evenepoel after “a lot of stress for nothing”

Evenepoel had already predicted before the start that he would probably not win the first stage, with its hilly finale and long uphill sprint. In fact, he even named the rider he expected to beat him. “It’s an extended sprint of almost 800 metres. It’s not a pure sprint, so some punchy riders can do really well there too. Then I’m thinking of Dorian Godon of INEOS Grenadiers, because he is very strong.”

That prediction proved spot on. The French champion was indeed the fastest, although only by millimetres ahead of Evenepoel’s wheel. The Belgian had also foreseen that he could still be in the mix at the finish. “We can compete, because before the final descent we also need to be near the front. I’ll definitely try, even though I’m not the fastest rider in the peloton. But it is a long effort.”

In a brief analysis with VTM, Evenepoel was barely disappointed that he could not come around Godon. “Godon countered me, but then I came back again. It was close all the way to the line and I can’t really blame myself for anything. I launched from a long way out, but everyone who has won here did it that way. Godon just had a little bit more left.”

Before the start of stage 1, Evenepoel also spoke about the travel issues that had overshadowed the end of his training camp. On the day of Milan-Sanremo, the Belgian was still stuck on Mount Teide in Tenerife because of snow and bad weather. So how did he eventually get down from the snow-covered mountain? “In the end it was actually quite simple, with a police escort.”

Evenepoel laughed when reflecting on the situation. “After ten minutes of driving, the road was already dry and super clean, so in the end it was a lot of stress for nothing. We managed to get here, and that’s the most important thing.”

According to the Belgian, the weather barely affected the work he had planned over the previous weeks. “My preparation was very good. I had a good time in Tenerife. Good training, a good atmosphere — first I had one week with Primoz, and then another two with Florian. Everything went smoothly, so it should be good enough to perform well this week.”