La Vuelta 2022: Remco Evenepoel ‘spat his dummy out’ but produced ‘perfect’ finish to Stage 12 - Adam Blythe

Updated 01/09/2022 at 18:46 GMT

Race leader Remco Evenepoel recovered from a crash with 45km remaining on Stage 12 of La Vuelta to solidify his general classification lead - bringing the red jersey group home to lay down a GC marker. His initial reaction to the crash lacked maturity, but the 22-year-old would then go on to produce a "perfect" finish to the stage, said Adam Blythe on the latest episode of The Breakaway.

Evenepoel ‘spat his dummy out’ but produced ‘perfect’ finish to Stage 12 – Blythe

Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) "spat the dummy out" after his Stage 12 crash before recovering to produce a "perfect" finish, that is according to Adam Blythe on the latest episode of The Breakaway.

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) emerged from a break to win the stage as Evenepoel ultimately solidified his general classification advantage.

The 22-year-old crashed on a right-hand bend, losing the front wheel and suffering a cut on his knee and a tear in his shorts.

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"It was nobody else’s fault but his own," began Dan Lloyd on the latest episode of The Breakaway. "But you could sense that frustration immediately afterwards."

Lloyd added that Evenepoel's crash was reminiscent of the crash on Stage 11 that ruled his team-mate Julian Alaphilippe out of the race.

"It was very similar to [Julian] Alaphilippe's crash. They’ve just got it banked over too much. I don’t think either of them have got anybody but themselves to blame."

He remounted and re-joined the peloton - but not before showing his fury – as he worked his way back on, ready for a general classification showdown.

The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider raged at a commissaire about the over-zealous braking of a motorcycle ahead of the peloton, plus the quality of the road surface, but Blythe, speaking alongside Lloyd on The Breakaway, said Evenepoel was looking for excuses with his reaction.

"He definitely spat the dummy out, talking to the commissaire, blaming the motorbike," said Blythe.

"No one else crashed Remco, it was just you and I know that sounds awful but when you’re in the situation you will always look to blame something.

"You never really admit when [it’s your fault], it’s quite embarrassing when you crash on your own like that. So I think he’s gone up to him and gone, ‘no the motorbike was breaking in front but the four team-mates in front of me were absolutely fine and I just came down on my own, but it was definitely their fault.'"

The time it took Evenepoel to get back on - and the energy expensed doing so - was a cause for concern, Blythe added.

"I think it’s not just the crash, it's the whole point after it," Blythe said.

"We saw he wasn’t in a rush to get back to the peloton. He wasn’t just following his team-mates, he was moving to the left, moving to the right, very casual.

"The peloton was waiting for them and that is ultimately going to be to their advantage, the peloton, because once he got back, the team had to ride a lot harder and quicker than what they were doing. Whereas if he would have been quite quick to respond, got up, got his spare bike, used his team-mates, got straight in, they’d have probably been at least 40 seconds closer than what they were.

"He’s allowed to be frustrated, of course he is, it’s just that’s the difference between someone experienced who’s been in that position, the likes of Chris Froome, [Alejandre] Valverde, someone who’d get back up quickly, get on the bike, get straight back into the peloton, because [they’d know] the team had a job to do whereas I think he was a bit more, ‘take my time, this is ridiculous, I’ve crashed because of this reason, I’m not happy about it.’

"It’s him just being a bit grumpy about it, not happy that he’s gone down on a stupid spot in the road. Ultimately we think it’s just his fault, it looked to be. And I think he’s just lost it a little bit."

Despite the setback, the 22-year-old then went on to lay down a marker by leading his general classification rivals home to maintain his 2'14" advantage over Primoz Roglic in the race for red - a showing Blythe called perfect.

"What he did in that final 3km was perfect," said Blythe.

"He got on the front, dictated the pace. He rode at such a hard pace, that he was distancing riders in the last 700 metres, and just riding at that tempo it stopped everyone from attacking. And ultimately he’s in control, it’s showing everyone he’s in control, and that is a very mature way to ride."

Evenepoel will hope there are no ill effects to his crash as La Vuelta continues on Friday with the lumpy 171km Stage 13, which favours the breakaway specialists and sprinters with a decent uphill kick.