'Nothing is lost yet' - Remco Evenepoel upbeat about recovery despite fading late at Stage 3 of Tour de Suisse
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Published 13/06/2023 at 19:51 GMT
World champion Remco Evenepoel saw the bright side after his attack at Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse wasn't enough to seal victory. The Soudal-QuickStep rider, who was forced out of the Giro d'Italia last month with Covid-19, finished fourth but remains second in the GC. Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) took victory to move to the top of the GC standings.
Highlights: Skjelmose clinches Stage 3 victory to take overall lead at Tour de Suisse
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) insists ‘nothing is lost yet’ after he tried and failed to push to the top of the general classification standings at Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse.
The world champion is bidding for glory in Switzerland and went on the attack with 6km to go on the climb up Villars-sur-Ollon.
However, a sluggish finish saw the Belgian come fourth, with Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) taking a victory that leaves him 17 seconds ahead of Evenepoel in the GC.
“We have to be content, we tried,” Evenepoel said.
“Nothing is lost yet, so no drama. I haven’t lost the general classification here. Now it’s onto tomorrow, it’s another chance.”
Felix Gall (AG2R Citroen) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) also finished ahead of Evenepoel, but the Soudal-QuickStep rider did succeed in distancing previous race leader Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ).
The Swiss finished in 31st position, more than three minutes off Skjelmose’s pace, to drop to 27th overall.
“I had to try something to get rid of Kung, which I did,” Evenepoel said.
“However, there were two riders with me who were also very strong, and maybe I took a little too much work on my shoulders. I paid for that on the tricky part of the climb.”
Evenepoel is still reeling from the disappointment of being forced out of the Giro d’Italia with Covid-19 while wearing the maglia rosa last month, and believes his recovery played a part in his slowing towards the end of Tuesday’s climb.
“I felt it wasn't in top form yet. Normally I should be able to add another acceleration in that stretch, but that wasn’t on the cards today,” he said.
“I didn't completely collapse either. It was only two or three bad minutes, and then I got back into my rhythm, so it must be some after-effects [from Covid]. But it was still a good sprint in the end.”
There are plenty more challenging mountain stages and steep climbs to come at the Tour de Suisse, which continues on Wednesday with the 152.5km Stage 4 from Monthey to Leukerbad.
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