Evenepoel and Uijtdebroeks relieved after Valencia time trial ruling, but others furious: “It makes no sense”

It was genuinely stormy in Valencia, and that made the time trial particularly problematic: there were lots of exposed sections where TT bikes would be dangerously buffeted. With deep rear wheels effectively acting like sails, the decision was taken to switch to road bikes. At the finish, conditions were so severe that the barriers were even blown into the road — leaving everyone wondering whether a start was possible in the first place.

Cian Uijtdebroeks would have preferred the organisers to pull the plug completely. “It’s crazy. The course is simply unsafe,” he told his team before the stage. “On the time trial bike it’s impossible with those gusts. Even on the road bike it’s not safe enough for me. The barriers are literally flying across the road. It would be a shame if we have to start. Let’s wait and see what they decide.”

In the end, the call was made to continue, despite the flying barriers. That meant some riders took it easy, because the day no longer counted for the GC — but plenty still went full gas. Evenepoel did too: the reigning world time trial champion wanted to test the legs, and delivered the expected victory.

Afterwards, the Belgian (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) explained why he still chose to take risks. “There was still a stage to win,” he said bluntly in the flash interview. “I also wanted to respect the organisers — they let it go ahead for a stage win, so I decided to race. I respect everyone’s decision.”

It was another win for Evenepoel, who has now taken three victories in four race days. “We’re first and second today with Alex (Aleksandr Vlasov), that’s a good result,” he said. “We prepared the day just like a time trial anyway, so it was still a good test — with a good result, so that’s nice.”

He also supported the decision to ride on road bikes. “It’s different, because the climb would be faster on a time trial bike. But the descent and the crosswind sections would have been tricky,” he explained. “There were pros and cons. In our sport, decisions can be made at the last moment. We have to respect that — we have to be flexible.”

Evenepoel was in good spirits, but Iván Romeo certainly was not. The Movistar rider criticised the way the decision played out. “I wasn’t very motivated after everything that happened. It’s hard to focus,” he said. “The last two hours before the start we were just in a group chat, trying to figure out what we were supposed to do. I’m not happy with how it went, in terms of the decision. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fine to race.”

In Romeo’s view, there should simply have been time gaps. Why would a stage win still be on the line if it was supposedly too dangerous for the GC? “I don’t understand the decision not to record times — it makes no sense,” he said. “Sixty to seventy percent of the riders still went full gas. There should be a protocol, instead of deciding 20 minutes before the race.”

He did agree that using TT bikes in the gusts would have been a bad idea. “We couldn’t have done this time trial on a time trial bike — that would have been impossible,” he said. “But if lots of riders just want to race, then the time should count for the GC. It shouldn’t depend on us — there need to be rules, or someone outside the riders who decides what we have to do.”