Remco Evenepoel finished 19th on Monte Zoncolan, a minute and a half behind maglia rosa Egan Bernal. He’s now 3’53” behind the Colombian.
“On the steeper parts I felt that my legs weren’t able to respond. Maybe my body is not ready yet for this, in terms of performance. On the other hand, I lost another minute and a half to Bernal, but I am still in the top ten”, said Evenepoel after stage 14.
“I try to fight every day, but the teammates don’t really have to worry about me anymore. If Joao (Almeida) wants to go on the attack for a day, he can certainly do that. But today I just felt that it is getting heavier and heavier”.
“I stayed with the best a long time, but if the power is no longer there at a certain point, then it is no longer there. See, I knew I was going to suffer on that explosive last two kilometers. I still have to work very hard on that and it will take time to improve in that area. But we know that and we have patience.”
Yet the Belgian is already looking ahead to the queen stage on Monday.
“With three long tempo climbs, less steep, that should suit me better.”
