Evenepoel becomes domestique after being dropped in Queen Stage: "We still have a lot of work to do"

Evenepoel eventually finished eleventh in the day's results, one and a half minutes behind winner Lenny Martinez. "It was clear that I haven't been at my best for a few weeks," the 25-year-old Belgian told Cycling Pro after the finish. "But I tried to stay with Junior so he wouldn't lose too much time and remain highly placed in the rankings. We did our best.”"Thanks to Evenepoel's hard work, Lecerf is still fifth in the GC; his older compatriot is in ninth place, 1.41 minutes behind leader Martinez.

The leader of Soudal Quick-Step is not discouraged by his less-than-perfect day. "It was okay. I still have a lot of work to do, but it was fine. We couldn't really keep up the pace halfway up the climb. Then, we tried to ride at our own pace. I asked Junior how fast I should ride for him, so I gave it everything I had and tried to keep it as stable as possible. We lost some time in the end, but not a lot."

On Sporza, Evenepoel elaborated on his performance in the queen stage. "I've only been back on the bike for two months. I can't perform miracles,' he said. 'If I had tried to keep up with the favorites for longer, I might have completely exhausted myself. That was the case last year in the Dauphiné, for example, when I wasn't in top form either."

Tomorrow is the final time trial. The top rider has only one goal. "I want to win it, no matter what. I can't start a time trial without that ambition anymore. Tomorrow, I will go for it, and then we'll see where I end up in the GC." It should have been the world time trial champion's last shot at the GC, but that seems impossible. "I think we lost too much time to win the GC," he realizes. "But I think Junior is still well placed. I must give it my all tomorrow to regain some time." The hilly time trial is 17.1 kilometers long, right up the alley of the Aerobullet.