Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), winner of the first stage and leader of the Tour de Valence since Wednesday, was unable to follow his closest pursuer in the general classification, the Russian Alexander Vlasov (Bora – hansgrohe), during the very steep last kilometer of the queen stage of the Spanish event.
Eighth in the stage, 41 seconds behind his rival, the Belgian is now in second place in the general classification and is 32 seconds behind Aleksander Vlasov.
“The best won today, I think that’s pretty clear!, underlined a very fair-play Remco Evenepoel in the press release sent by his team. Aleksandr was strong today, he was strong in the first stage as well. It was a great race, hats off to the organisers. But they still decided to send us on its small roads where there were a lot of stones, despite the fact that they said they were gone. The stage and the final ascent were so hard that this “gravel” section was not necessary. It looked like mountain biking. But I’m not saying that’s why I lost so much time, Aleksander was just stronger. I felt good, but towards the end of this sector, I started to feel tired in my legs. The stage was a kilometer too long for me. Second overall, it’s still a good result. Now I’m going to help Fabio win the last two flat stages!”