Remco Evenepoel exclusive: Primoz Roglic looks ‘nervous’, so far I am the strongest at Giro d’Italia 2023
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ByEurosport
Published 11/05/2023 at 18:36 GMT
Remco Evenepoel has told Eurosport France that he feels his main general classification rival at the Giro d’Italia, Primoz Roglic, looks “nervous”. He added that so far he felt "the strongest" after the opening stages of the first Grand Tour of the year. The 23-year-old is second on GC, some 28 seconds behind Team DSM’s Andreas Leknessund, but holds a 44-second advantage over Roglic.
Stage 6 highlights: Pedersen wins, Roglic and Thomas suffer late scares
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was in bullish mood following Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, telling Eurosport France that he felt main general classification rival Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) looked “nervous”.
After Stage 6 was won by Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), the 23-year-old Soudal-Quickstep rider sits second on the general classification, some 28 seconds off Norway’s Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM). However, he holds a 44-second lead over Roglic.
Friday will see the first mountaintop finish of the 2023 Giro d’Italia - the 218km Stage 7 from Capua to the Gran Sasso d’Italia. It should in theory offer Roglic an opportunity to apply pressure to Evenepoel, but the Belgian was in confident mood when speaking to Eurosport after Stage 6.
“I have the impression that Roglic is nervous, he knows that he is 44 seconds behind,” Evenepoel told Eurosport France show Rois de la Pédale. “They are nervous in the peloton, they push a lot, that's the Jumbo style.
“We will see tomorrow if he will try to catch up. After the time trial and the stage of the day before yesterday, I think that so far I am the strongest.
“For the moment it is an ideal scenario for us. In Catalonia I was behind, now I am in front. For us there is no stress, more for them I think.”
Evenepoel suffered two crashes on Stage 5 – first when a dog ran into the road and then again just 2.5km from the finish.
Soudal Quick-Step doctor Toon Cruyt had said that Evenepoel was in a “lot of pain” following the two crashes on the rain-soaked stage.
But Evenepoel showed no ill-effects in a comfortable day in the saddle on Thursday, and he said that Stage 6 had offered an opportunity to recover after the tumultuous ride the previous day.
“[Today was] a good day for turning legs and testing the muscles that have been affected,” he said. “A good day of recovery for us.
“Sprint stages are always dangerous. For us the most important thing is to finish the stages without problems. Until today everything went well despite these two crashes but that's life, these things happen.”
Coverage of Stage 7 of the Giro d’Italia begins at 10:00 UK time on Friday.
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