Remco Evenepoel lost 2 minutes and 12 seconds on Thursday, during the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse. The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider told Eurosport that he “didn’t have good legs“to stay with the best.
Evenepoel was left behind about twenty kilometers from the finish in a rough final. “I just didn’t have the legs for a stage like this“, explained the young Belgian. “It was a bit like during the first stage, where I really had the legs, today I didn’t have them. I’m not saying it was super bad, but I didn’t have good enough legs to keep up with the best.“
Evenepoel now finds himself 19th overall, 2:22 behind the new leader, the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe), winner on Thursday. “Two super tough stages are coming up, so I will keep fighting and giving my best. There is also the lap time on Sunday, which is quite long in my head. I know that I can’t waste any more time to make a good general classification“, concluded Evenepoel.