Remco Evenepoel intended to test himself in the finale of stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, and he duly readied himself on the wheel of Primož Roglič on the shallow rise towards the finish at Les Estables.
A slow puncture, however, meant that the duel never materialised. Rather than contest stage victory, Evenepoel was content to manage the situation and roll home in the main peloton, three seconds down on the day’s winner Derek Gee.
“In the end I had a small flat tyre – not a complete flat but a slow puncture,” Evenepoel explained afterwards. “It was pretty tough to keep going with that in the last 3k, but otherwise I would have lost lots of time, so it was tough. I had to work hard, but I managed to stay with the group.”
The Critérium du Dauphiné marks Evenepoel’s return to competition after fracturing his collarbone in the mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country, and he downplayed expectations before the race began, insisting that he had few ambitions beyond improving his condition ahead of his Tour de France debut.
On the Col de la Loge on Monday, Evenepoel had preferred not to try to chase stage victory, but he approached the finale of stage 3 with a different approach, at least until he felt his tyre start to deflate.
“I really wanted to go for it today but once I felt I had the slow puncture, it was game over,” Evenepoel said. “I felt good, and I wanted to go for it. We said in the race we were going to try because the last k was really not easy at all. It was a finish that should have suited me, but the tyre decided differently. Now it’s time to focus on tomorrow.”
Evenepoel faces the first real examination of his form in the demanding 34.4km time trial from Saint-Germain-Laval to Neulise on Wednesday. As the world champion in the discipline, Evenepoel is the logical favourite for stage victory, while the course offers a very useful test ahead of the two time trials at the Tour.
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“I think it’s a very tough time trial,” said Evenepoel, who has been warming down on his time trial bike all week. “It’s almost pan flat in the beginning and then about 15km into the TT, it starts to roll up, a bit like today actually.
“It’s a TT that’s pretty long, so you have to pace it well and make sure you have something for the final part. It’s one I like. I was looking forward to this one already during the altitude camp.”
Evenepoel won his first time trial of the year at the Volta ao Algarve, but a crash denied him on the opening day of Itzulia Basque Country, where he placed fourth in a short test won by Roglič.
Their duel on Wednesday is likely to be the story of the day, not least because both men will view the Tour de France time trials as pivotal to their hopes of beating Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
This year’s Tour de France features a 25km individual time trial to Gevrey-Chambertin in the opening week, while the race concludes with a tough, 34km test from Monaco to Nice that takes in the climb of La Turbie and the Col d’Èze.
“If there’s one stage I’m interested in this week, it’s Wednesday, just to see how my shoulder comes through it,” Evenepoel told RTBF. “After that, we’ll see how my legs perform. If I get a good result, I’ll be able to leave this Dauphiné feeling good. It will be an important day. I’ll be aiming for the podium, and we’ll see what our rivals do. If it ends with a win, so much the better.”
In the overall standings, Evenepoel lies 33rd overall, 13 seconds behind the yellow jersey Gee and six seconds down on Roglič.
Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Tom Steels echoed Evenepoel’s thoughts, insisting that the Dauphiné was a means to an end rather than a goal in itself.
“The most important thing is that he feels better day after day and that he has good sensations at the end of the Dauphiné,” Steels told RTBF.
“We’ll see where we are after the time trial. A time trial of that distance is always a good test. He will be very motivated for that, especially with the rainbow jersey on his back. He’s going to do everything to be the best.”
