
This was not how stage one of the Tour de France was meant to go for Remco Evenepoel, and definitely not how it was meant to go for a Belgian team whose DNA is built on creating and profiting from crosswind-induced echelons, not being caught out by them.
But after only one day’s racing, Soudal Quick-Step and Evenepoel are already on the back foot in the Tour, losing 39 seconds to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) after the peloton fractured with 17km remaining.