On to the next thing. After Tuesday’s impressive Tour de France performance in the Alps by Remco Evenepoel, Soudal-QuickStep management are already eying the next crunch GC stage and hoping that the Belgian star will shine equally brightly in Friday’s time trial.
Evenepoel both claimed second place on stage 4 behind lone winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), 35 seconds back, moving up to second overall, 45 seconds down.
On Wednesday morning before stage 5, Soudal-QuickStep sports director Davide Bramati was upbeat about the chances of Evenepoel putting on a great performance on Friday’s flat 25.7 kilometre race against the clock. But he also warned that it would first be important to get through the next two flat stages without any problems.
Bramati agreed, however, that the omens were good for Evenepoel for Friday’s time trial. His comments echoed the reactions of Evenepoel's teammates after stage 4, with roommate Louis Vervaeke telling Het Laatste Nieuws: “He’s like the Remco I recognize from when he won the Vuelta" - won by Evenepoel in 2022.
“For sure we are very happy, he is there. Now there are two easier days for the GC guys and then the TT, but for sure yesterday was a great day,” Bramati told Cyclingnews before stage 5’s flat 177. 4 kilometre run from Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne to Saint Vulgas.
“Everybody knew already from the start of this year’s Tour that UAE was the team to do the job they did yesterday. Then when Pogačar went for it, Remco tried but I don’t think he lost anything [significant]. It’s perfect for Soudal. Also [Mikel] Landa lying seventh overall will be important in the coming stages, too.”
Bramati is optimistic that the time trial represents a good opportunity for the current world champion in the speciality to make inroads on his GC rivals.
“We will see, I think so, we know Remco likes time trials and he already did a good one in the [Critérium du] Dauphiné,” Bramati said. "For sure, now the important thing is to get through these two [flat] stages with nothing happening and then we’ll see.”
Regarding the fight for the podium, Bramati was rather more cautious than Evenepoel himself, who had said afterwards that “the closer we get to the podium, the more we have to fight for it.”
“We’ll see," Bramati said. "Yesterday was the first hard day so we need to see what we can do. But for up to now very happy with what the team is doing.”
Bramati’s upbeat mood was echoed across the Soudal-QuickStep camp. "Our team is doing what it needs to, our leader too," Louis Vervaeke told Het Laatste Nieuws. "It's nice to see that he's going to compete for the podium in Nice. I'm really looking forward to that and to continue working on that with him."
Form-wise, Vervaeke said Evenepoel was in ideal condition. “He's in good shape. Like the Remco I recognize from when he won the Vuelta. He was very relaxed for this stage. A bit too much, I thought.
“I thought this was a really important stage, he took it lightly. That is a sign that he has a lot of confidence in himself. And I have confidence in him too.”
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