Remco Evenepoel determined not to repeat ‘stupid move’ on Alto Colorado at Giro d’Italia

Remco Evenepoel has said he will look to ensure he does not repeat the mistake of Alto Colorado at the Giro d’Italia.

Stage 5 of the Vuelta a San Juan had a pivotal look to it, with the summit finish at Alto Colorada.

At this early juncture of the season, Evenepoel set out to make a statement by riding away from the peloton with 10kms to go.

It was a confident move from the Soudal-QuickStep leader, as he powered away with the race seemingly at his mercy.

Ineos Grenadiers set a tempo in pursuit, but the gap continued to grow as Evenepoel powered on.

However, within a couple of kilometres the complexion of the race changed as Evenepoel’s tempo slowed and he was swallowed up by the chasers.

Worse was to follow for the world champion, as he was unable to hold the wheel and fell out of the back door – eventually finishing 1:09 behind stage winner Miguel Angel Lopez (Medellín-EPM).

Evenepoel gave an honest assessment of the stage, as he said he felt strong but that his body was not ready for the rigours of such a day at this stage of the season.

“I think I had quite strong legs and maybe I felt a bit too good at that moment and I did a bit of a strange move,” Evenepoel said. “I did a stupid move, because in the end, I went for one minute at full gas and then I tried to keep a high speed. But I was alone, so I should have stopped riding immediately.”

The Giro in May is Evenepoel’s early season target, and he will look to learn the lessons from his exertions on Alto Colorado.

“I think it wasn’t the best and the smartest move that I made, but in the end, I think I had to recover a little from the effort, because I was full of lactate and acid in my body,” Evenepoel said. “My arms were really pumped.

“It was not really smart, because I didn’t really train on efforts like that, so I should have been smarter and more calm and just try to take the wheel and the slipstream and I had to try and attack like that maybe in the last 3km or the last kilometre and not that early. But in the end, it’s better to make a mistake like that now than in the Giro.”

Evenepoel feels the likes of stage winner Lopez, Filippo Ganna and Egan Bernal were further along in their preparations for the season.

Lopez and Bernal have the Colombian championship on the horizon, while Ganna will be heading back to the velodrome for the European Track Championships.

“When they caught me back and I could see Lopez going, I thought immediately, this guy is going for the victory today, he really looks strong,” Evenepoel said. “Maybe the biggest surprise is Ganna but he’s always good here and in preparation for the European Track Championships.

“All the guys who were in front of me, they maybe had a better preparation but that’s not an excuse for my mistake that I did today. There are big lessons out of today, but like I said: better in this race than in the next races.”

– – –