Evenepoel knows his mission in the run-up to the Tour and will miss one person in particular: "Was alone a lot here"

Cycling
Monday, 16 June 2025 at 09:21
remco evenepoel
Remco Evenepoel finished fifth in three consecutive stages in the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Belgian rider achieved this in the last three mountain stages of the warm-up race for the Tour de France. Immediately after the final stage, the Flemish rider was back in front of the cameras to draw his conclusions after a week of racing in France.
"Today was better," he said immediately in the flash interview. “But it's still a bit the same as last year. It wasn't great, but I'm happy with today.” That was also Evenepoel's analysis in the previous stages, in which he rode consistently, finishing fifth three times.
However, in the final stage, there was some improvement, as the 25-year-old himself pointed out. Whereas he was unable to keep up with his rival Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) in the two stages before the final stage, things were different in the last stage. Evenepoel finished ahead of the German, who struggled in the final.
Evenepoel himself knows immediately after the stage what he needs to work on before he lines up at the start of the Tour de France in just under three weeks. “I need to work on the tempo changes. When the pace is already high, it gets really fast for another three or four minutes. My time trial was on point, but I need to make sure I get better at climbing. The gap with the other contenders is big."
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remco evenepoel
Evenepoel did manage to win the time trial in the Dauphiné, which also earned him the yellow jersey. 

Remco Evenepoel missed teammates in Dauphiné: "I was alone a lot here"

By other GC contenders, Evenepoel refers to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). The two excelled in the Dauphiné, where Pogacar, in particular, showed his class again with three stage wins and overall victory. "The high pace of their domestiques is just their training speed," said Evenepoel. "At least, that's what it looks like."
The Soudal Quick-Step rider cites an example from the final stage. "When Valentin (Paret-Peintre, ed.) and I were riding, they could still attack. That's impressive. I had to recover from the attack but gave it everything."
Evenepoel will have to do the Tour de France without an important domestique who quickly dropped out of the Giro d'Italia: Mikel Landa. "It's clear that I was alone a lot here. Valentin was very useful to have around today, which is positive. Several riders are also starting in Switzerland today, so we still have some time to decide on the Tour selection. But Mikel will be sorely missed."  
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