Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) won the 23.4km time trial on stage seven of the Tour de France 12″ ahead of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), while Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was third at 34″ and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was fourth at 37″.
Evenepoel explained that he took some risks to win. “I wanted to start fast, but I still had to save some energy for the climb. That wasn’t easy. And the descent was also quite technical, especially when you’re already at the limit. But I enjoyed every meter. To win on top of that is really great. In the last corners I had to take risks, because I knew Tadej was quite close to me and of course he can also ride great time trials, especially in big tours. In the end I win with a difference of twelve, thirteen seconds, that’s just magnificent. I’m very proud of this.”
Pogačar was satisfied with his TT. “I went into the red for a moment after the climb. Fortunately, I was able to get going again on the descent and on the last part. So I’m happy with my performance today. I knew I was doing a good time going into the race, but I didn’t know the exact differences. I’m gaining time on the rest and I can be happy with that. Is Remco a threat to the classification? Yes, of course. You never know. This is the Tour.”
Primož Roglič had mixed feelings about his performance. “Of course it was not a good sign that I had to start as the first of the top favorites, because that means that the others are a bit better. I am happy with how it went today and I am looking forward to the stages that are coming.”
DS Merijn Zeeman (Visma | Lease a Bike) summarized Vingegaard’s performance and what he needs to do to stay in contention. “Today we had expected to lose a bit more time. Fortunately, that climb was still quite tough and he was able to make up some time. I think it was just really good. With this start, with the rides through Italy, the one with the Galibier and the time trial, we knew we would have to lose some time. In the third week we will see if Jonas’s base is broad enough that he can rise above himself there, because of course he needs that to win the Tour. We’ll have to wait and see. The gravel stage will also be exciting, but that goes for everyone. We will have to deliver a top performance there as a team.”
Wout van Aert admitted afterwards that he was disappointed with his performance. “I didn’t know the intermediate times, but I saw a red box at the second intermediate point. Then you’re definitely not in the lead,” Van Aert notes. “I also noticed from the coaching that it wasn’t for the first place. After that I still went all out, but I maybe took fewer risks. It wasn’t in the cards today.”
RESULTS
Stage 7 (ITT): Nuits-Saint-Georges > Gevrey-Chambertin (25.3km)
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