Opinion: Blip or first sign of weakness in Remco Evenepoel’s red armour at La Vuelta 2022?

ByFelix Lowe

Updated 01/09/2022 at 18:33 GMT

Not only did Remco Evenepoel crash on Stage 12 of La Vuelta, but his temper also got the better of him after he looked to apportion blame elsewhere. Evenepoel would recover to cement his GC credentials, but Felix Lowe wonders whether his immediate response was merely a gut reaction and pure passion from the young Belgian, or if the man in red is beginning to feel the heat in the Spanish sun.

It was Albert Einstein who made the timeless observation that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a form of insanity. Well, it’s hard to see what Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl riders expect to happen when they keep over-banking slippery corners with such gusto.

Just 24 hours after Julian Alaphilippe crashed himself out of the Vuelta with a fall that saw him dislocate his shoulder, team-mate Remco Evenepoel replicated the Frenchman’s skid with aplomb with a crash of his own on an innocuous bend during the descent back towards the coast at a point in the race when Quick-Step were under no real pressure.

If Evenepoel appeared to keep his cool during the seemingly interminable wait for a new bike, the ex-footballer in him soon shone through when he rode up alongside the race director’s car and launched an unsavoury tirade – blaming everyone from the TV motorcycle to the Spanish road layers, but not the person who was actually responsible: himself.

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Having slipped up on his own banana skin, Evenepoel’s reaction was perhaps entirely understandable: it’s human nature to lash out when under pressure and to look for someone else to point the finger at.

In the 22-year-old’s defence, he soon battled back and regained his composure ahead of the final climb to Penas Blancas in the wake of Richard Carapaz’s win.

But at what cost? Besides the graze to his hip and cut knee, Evenepoel didn’t display any serious after-effects of his crash when he darted to the line in the closing moments to take some more seconds off some of his lesser rivals in the battle for red.

And when asked about the damage from his crash when warming down on the rollers, Evenepoel, although behind a mask, did seem to laugh off the incident: “Just my leg but it’s fine, I think. My bike is much worse than myself. It was a super slippery corner – the motorbikes were slipping and slowing down as well. I wanted to cut the corner but it was too much.

“Sorry for my words, but s*** happens. The climb was good. I knew it was a climb to just follow. I went for the sprint at the end because I had something left. Now I’m just going to heal the wounds and try and recover tomorrow, which is a sprint stage.”

‘S*** happens!’ – Evenepoel on Stage 12 crash

It’s often the days after a crash when the body feels it most acutely – and it’s likely that Evenepoel was still operating on rage and adrenaline towards the end of Stage 12 on Thursday. As the Belgian said in his interview, Friday’s 13th stage is a sprint stage – albeit one that still boasts 1,766 metres of climbing.

On paper, it poses no real threat to Evenepoel and his red jersey – especially given his “luxury position of being a small three minutes ahead of the second guy on GC”. But that doesn’t take into account any obstacles that Quick-Step may conjure up of their own.

Now down to five support riders alongside Evenepoel, Quick-Step can ill afford to play Russian roulette. Already, allowing a rider of Wilco Kelderman’s pedigree back into the top six was an oversight – although the team must admittedly prioritise its efforts, and perhaps dismissed the threat posed by the Dutchman in the long run.

Stage 12 highlights: Evenepoel shows 'who’s boss’ after crash, Carapaz takes stage win

But as we get deeper into the race, Evenepoel and his team will be required to juggle more and more with such tactical conundrums as riders and rival teams play out their own endgames and try to turn the tables and engineer things in their favour. Kelderman today could well be someone far more dangerous tomorrow.

Make no mistake, Evenepoel has ridden a brilliant, near flawless race. He remains the overwhelming favourite for this Vuelta – and will/would be a worthy winner in Madrid, setting up the mouth-watering prospect of him going head-to-head with Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Egan Bernal at next year's Tour.

Before that, back-to-back summit finishes this weekend – in particular Sunday’s high-altitude showdown in the Sierra Nevada – will still be a massive test of the Belgian’s stamina, strength and mental fortitude. Crashing two days before this could prove to be, at best, a timely wake-up call; at worst, it could be a crucial turning point in this race – the moment the red spool began to unravel for a rider still finding his feet in a Grand Tour.

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