“Remco Evenepoel had to give his all and Rémi Cavagna could also play his luck, the other team-mates had to take a second day off. It’s something really strange“, summarized Ilan Van Wilder (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), 155th in the stage at 7:44 from his leader. “I have never ridden a time trial so slowly.“
“Soler caught me on the way“, recounted Van Wilder. “He asked me: ‘do you have time?’ (to drive so slowly, editor’s note). I told him that we could drive at an average of 39 km/h and finish on time. And then we started riding in each other’s wake.” “It’s really strange, I like to put in the effort in a time trial, but we had to take a second day off with the team“, explained the Belgian runner. “That’s what I did. We had calculated the limit. We are here to help Remco and you don’t have to do anything stupid with effort and save the legs. Even if it’s a short 35 minute effort, you can feel it the next day. A still difficult Vuelta awaits us and you must not waste your strength.” “It’s weird to run like this“, added Van Wilder.
“Yesterday I rode for an hour and a half on the rest day. Today I rode for 50 minutes: 8 minutes warming up, no reconnaissance and almost 42 minutes of lap time. Starting tomorrow, I have to go back to work.“