Remco Evenepoel, riding for Soudal Quick-Step, has recently won Stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné as he finished the 17.4km course with a final time of 20 minutes and 50 seconds. This victory led him to lead the overall race standings and granted him the yellow jersey.
“I think the advantage I had was a lot of headwind in the valleys… I used that to really take the benefit of my position, and then the climb, I just went as fast as possible,” the rider said.
He added, “We had a perfect plan for the pacing strategy. I’m very happy to have put over one second a kilometre on everybody, and for some more than two… I’m super proud and happy with the feeling I have now. I’m feeling pretty good, and it’s always nice to bring home a world tour victory.”
Evenepoel: “Much better than I was last year”
Evenepoel was 21 seconds faster than Jonas Vingegaard, who is riding for Visma-Lease a Bike and placed second. Furthermore, he is also 49 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar, who is riding for the UAE Team Emirates XRG and finished fourth.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider shared that he has been preparing really hard for the races.
“In terms of weight, I’m already pretty good… Much better than I was last year at this point, so I’m just happy that I’ve been working super hard behind the scenes.
“I’m feeling good on the climbs, on the flats and on the descents as well, so it’s a good step forward to what we have to expect for the next days… We just have to keep building and take it day by day. For sure, there will be a lot of pressure in the weekend from other teams, but with the victor,y I’m confident I can do well,” he added.
Evenepoel shared a social media post with a caption “Flying to victory.🥇🌈🟡🔥… Special feeling to take win #1000 for @soudalquickstepteam, one for the entire team, one for Patrick, one for history.🏆🐺… We stay focused for the rest of the week.👊🏼”
Netizens celebrated Remco’s stage win with enthusiastic messages of support, calling it both thrilling and well-earned. Praise also poured in for the Soudal team as they gear up for the upcoming mountain stages.
One user wrote, “Congratulations Remco – what an exciting and convincing stage victory 👌🏼,” while another said, “Rooting for you & entire Soudal team, great job, keep up the good work. Best of luck in the Mountains, let’s go🙏🙏🔥🔥.”
Moreover, the Visma-Lease a Bike team still had a good race despite not winning the first spot. Jonas Vingegaard managed to clinch the second spot, and teammate Matteo Jorgenson in third.
Despite losing against Evenepoel, Vingegaard remained calm. He shared, “I can be pretty satisfied with how today went… Remco is the best time trialler in the world, so to only lose 20 seconds is pretty decent…In the end, I think I can be pretty happy with my performance.”