‘I finally delivered’ – Remco Evenepoel proves doubters wrong as he celebrates La Vuelta victory in tears

The Belgian will win his first Grand Tour providing he stays upright during Sunday’s processional sprint stage to Madrid.

Should he claim victory, it will end Belgium’s 44-year wait for a Grand Tour champion, with Johan De Muynck reigning victorious in the 1978 Giro d’Italia.

Evenepoel will also become the youngest winner of the race in over half a century.

The meaning of the victory was evident as Evenpoel was overcome with emotion after the race, with tears still in his eyes during his post-race interview.

“I don’t know what’s going through my head and my body right now. It’s amazing,” he said.

“After all of the criticism I had, all the bad comments I’ve got after last year [withdrawing from Giro d’Italia debut], I think I finally delivered and I answered everybody with my pedals.

“I’ve been working so hard to come here and be in the best shape possible, and to now win this Vuelta is just amazing.”

The 22-year-old stated that it was actually his first ever Grand Tour that he has started healthy as he dedicated his win to his country, his team-mates, his parents and his fiancée.

“You know, I’ve been away from home for so many hours, so many days, so many weeks, so many months, and it’s all just thanks to them as well,” he said.

“I was really stressed this morning. Maybe I didn’t show it, but I was really stressed. I didn’t sleep too much yesterday night because you know what’s coming, and it was a super tough stage, but I am just super happy that I won La Vuelta.”

The penultimate stage of La Vuelta took palace from Moralzarzal to Puerto de Navacerrada and Evenpoel was able to respond to the difficulties of the day’s climbs.

When asked how he kept focus throughout the race, Evenepoel said: “Just with the legs. I didn’t even think about winning the stage, I just wanted to win the general classification. I only had to follow and control and believe in my power. In the end, the race was super hard, but we did very well.”

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