La Vuelta 2023: Remco Evenepoel unhappy with ‘ridiculous’ conditions and ‘strange’ Stage 1 decision
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Published 27/08/2023 at 10:31 GMT
Remco Evenepoel has hit out at La Vuelta organisers for allowing the opening stage of tth 2023 race to go ahead when it did after riders struggled in treacherous rainy and dark conditions. The Belgian claimed he and fellow riders “couldn’t see anything” following Saturday’s team time trial in Barcelona as visibility faded. Eurosport’s Breakaway team defended the 23-year-old’s comments.
'He is looking out for the other riders' - Breakaway team defend Evenepoel's criticisms of stage 1
Vuelta a Espana reigning champion Remco Evenepoel was not impressed with the conditions during this year’s opening stage in Barcelona.
The 23-year-old complained that visibility was poor and that riders “couldn’t see anything” as they completed Saturday’s Team Time Trial in treacherous conditions.
Team DSM-Firmenich got off to a winning start in the pouring rain and fading light conditions, with Soudal Quick-Step unsuccessfully making a late push for victory.
“It’s like riding your car 20kph on the highway in the full dark and no lights,” Evenepoel complained. “Not really [should the stage have been cancelled], just know that it can be dark in the evenings.
“You have the whole day to do a TTT, you have to wait the whole day when it was dry - I mean rain is rain, you cannot change that, but we can change the circumstances that we are racing in and you just have to know, we go to the limit because it’s a race and we want to win, so we already risking a lot.
“It’s super dark and super sketchy on these roads, in my eyes it’s just ridiculous. Like I said, for sure I’ll get a lot of haters and criticism on me, but that’s just how it is.”
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'You couldn't see anything' - Evenepoel bemoans conditions after Vuelta Stage 1
There would be no criticism from Eurosport’s Breakaway team, who applauded the Belgian for “looking out for other riders”.
“I can imagine in Barcelona it probably doesn’t get dark until after they’ve finished, so if it was sunny, there probably would have been that dusk lighting where there’s just enough,” Eurosport expert Adam Blythe explained.
“But with the rain and the clouds coming over, it’s obvious that there should have been lighting. We saw the shots coming in at the start of the show - you can hardly see the riders coming into the finish.
“When they’re that far away from the wheel in front in the rain with potholes, it’s not just to see where they’re going, it’s the road down in front of them. They could hit a pothole, a bottle from another team, whatever it might be.
“Fairplay to him, because he is looking after the other riders.”
Fellow pundit Dan Lloyd added: “I don’t think he will get a lot of criticism for voicing that. He might do if it was just about weather conditions, but like he said, it was the same for everybody.”
“Regardless of the weather, they had light that they could have raced in.”
Following his rant of the near-unrideable conditions, Evenepoel called on race organisers to think about the safety of riders.
“They should know that it’s dangerous and they should think about safety,” he said. “It’s just a shame, it affects everybody.
“All the GC teams went super slow because you couldn’t see anything and you couldn’t race 100%.
“It’s just strange that they let us race in the dark like this.”
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