Remco Evenepoel gives 3 reasons for his off day at the GP Montreal: 'You shouldn't underestimate that either'

Remco Evenepoel was unable to repeat his feat from Quebec on Sunday in Montreal. The Belgian, who is also the top favorite for the World Cycling Championships, took stock of the situation in an interview with Sporza following the conclusion of the second leg of the Canadian WorldTour series.

Evenepoel was clearly the best in Quebec on Friday, but on the longer and steeper Mont Royal, he had to admit that Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas were better on the climbs. Del Toro ultimately won the race.

"I don't think I had fully recovered from the Québec GP and yesterday's somewhat amateurish trip. Although that's the same for everyone," Evenepoel says, referring to the bus trip from Québec to Montreal, which takes several hours.

"I rode at full speed for the last 30 kilometers in Québec. Behind me, there were riders who didn't put in quite as much effort. You shouldn't underestimate that either," he continues.

"I'm never really at my best in wet weather. But I can't complain. If this was a bad day, it wasn't all that bad. And besides, it's better to have a bad day today than in two weeks," he says, referring to the World Championships.

Evenepoel also fell behind in the penultimate lap. “I couldn’t respond to the attack on the climb. But I was the only one who could close the gap afterward. In the end, I also put in a good sprint. At first, it didn’t look good for that fifth-place finish, but I managed to catch up to two riders at the finish line.”

So the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider has learned some valuable lessons. “The World Championships are 60 kilometers longer than today’s race. It will be a completely different race, with a lot of fatigue. Less explosive and more about endurance.”

"It was a good day of training today with a great result," the Belgian concludes. "From now on, the focus shifts to the World Time Trial Championships." The World Championships are scheduled for this Sunday; Evenepoel will speak with the press again on Friday.