Evenepoel at a loss after Dauphiné blow: "I kept going slower with every kilometer"

He was still well in contention on the penultimate climb, but on the final climb to Combloux on Friday, it was all over for Evenepoel. The Belgian fell behind early on due to the pace set by UAE Emirates-XRG, and the Soudal Quick-Step leader even had to drop back when Jhohatan Narváez took the lead.

"The conclusion? That Pogacar is incredibly strong," Soudal Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels said afterward to Het Laatste Nieuws. The Belgian saw the world champion perform very well. "He rode incredibly strong. It was extremely fast, even on the penultimate climb."

So there was no panic among the Belgian team, although according to Steels, the team had slightly different expectations of the first real mountain stage in Dauphiné. "We might have expected to be a little further ahead, but it's the same situation as last year. We still need to improve those small percentages on the climbs, but there's still a long way to go before the final week of the Tour. So we still have some work to do, but it's certainly not dramatic. We need to stay calm and keep working."

After Evenepoel had refreshed himself, the 25-year-old Belgian also spoke of a slightly less successful day. "On the penultimate climb, I felt great, but maybe I hadn't recovered enough from that effort. They also started the last climb as if the finish line was two kilometers away," Evenepoel said, realizing he still had a long way to go after Pogi's acceleration.

"I slowed down with every kilometer. Was it the aftermath of the crash, a bad day... Tomorrow is a new day with maybe different legs,” the Belgian looked ahead. Evenepoel spoke of a “superior” Pogacar. “He has once again shown that he is the best cyclist in the world," concluded the Belgian, who eventually crossed the finish line one minute and fifty seconds behind stage winner Pogacar. This puts the Belgian in fourth place in the GC, one minute and 22 seconds behind the world champion.