New ‘outfit’ and early start time give Evenepoel the edge over Del Toro: “Perfect scenario”

There were a couple of notable changes for Evenepoel at Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe. He rolled out with a bigger chainring and, for the first time in this time trial, long sleeves. “I’m glad someone noticed,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “It’s basically the only change that came out of our last wind tunnel visit. I’m getting a bit older, eh,” he laughed. “So maybe my skin is too.”

The new suit appeared to do its job. Evenepoel started fifth and immediately set the fastest time. It was the quickest time trial of his career, with an average speed of more than 56 kilometres per hour. “It was pretty fast — it was flat and not super technical — so it was the perfect course to go that hard,” he said in a post-race flash interview. “I’m happy I could do it today.”

Evenepoel has enjoyed success at the UAE Tour before, but until now he had never won an individual stage there. “We won the team time trial in 2023, and after that I finished second twice on uphill finishes. It feels good to take my first individual stage win in the UAE Tour.” That same 2023 edition did end in overall victory for Evenepoel, even though Einer Rubio and Adam Yates were the strongest on the climbs.

Del Toro won the opening stage, but that came with a disadvantage in the time trial: as race leader, he was forced into the organiser-provided leader’s kit — and the wind conditions later in the day were less favourable, too. In the red leader’s jersey, the Mexican ultimately conceded 42 seconds to the stage winner, handing Evenepoel a strong platform for the next few days, with two mountain stages still on the menu.

Evenepoel felt his main rival had little else to find on the day. “I think he got the maximum out of it. We knew it was better to start a bit earlier, but he won yesterday and I won today. We both have a stage win in the pocket, so nobody will have regrets. From now on, it’s an open fight for the general classification.”

That battle resumes immediately on Wednesday with the stage to Jebel Mobrah, the first summit finish of the race. It is a brand-new climb and a brutally hard one — potentially ideal terrain for Del Toro. Evenepoel is ready for what comes next. “With those tough climbs, it will be a bit more comfortable to defend than to attack,” he said. “It’s a perfect scenario for us — now we have to try to defend it all the way to Sunday.”