Remco Evenepoel dropped again at Critérium du Dauphiné but not worried about Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was dropped on the final climb for the second day in a row on stage 7 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, but brushed away any concerns after the stage, saying he performed as he expected as has time to improve for the Tour de France.

The Belgian started slipping down the group almost as soon as the 9.9km climb to Samoëns 1600 started, and went on to finish 1:46 down on winner and race leader Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe), likely ending his chances of finishing on the final podium after also losing 42 seconds on Friday.

Read more: Critérium du Dauphiné stage 7: Primož Roglič wins again to extend overall lead

After a cold, wet day and with Evenepoel still recovering from the effects of the crash at Itzulia Basque Country and another knock on stage 5 of the Dauphiné, interviewers at the finish asked if there were particular reasons for Evenepoel’s performances, but he was quick to bat away any other explanations.

“It’s just that the shape is just not there,” he said matter-of-factly. “On finishes like this, you need to be at 100 per cent to perform at your best. It’s a 10 per cent climb, it’s a climb that doesn’t lie.”

In fact, he said that how he performed was in line with what he expected for Saturday’s stage, and there was not any panic in the finale.

“Nothing strange happened today, I expected this in the morning. In the last valley with 25km to go I said to the team that I was just not feeling good enough, so I was going to drop straight away at the bottom and then do my own pace, which was the best decision that I could take."

Despite his podium ambitions now likely being over, Evenepoel insisted that that is not what he came to this race for, and that his performances the last two days were not necessarily something to worry about.

“I think it’s clear that there is still some work [to do], but like I already said in the beginning of the week, if I drop I will keep pushing just to train, to improve my shape, so that’s what I did,” he said of the way he pushed on to the finish line.

“It was a tough day, more than 4,000 metres of climbing, lots of rain, technical descents, so I don’t think I did bad with the focus on the Tour. For sure the results are not there but I think everybody knows I came here to try to win the TT, and then in the mountains I was just going to try to hang on as long as possible and test myself, so that’s what happened today again.”

In many respects, Evenepoel has achieved what he came here to do. He did win stage 4’s time trial, with quite a margin over Roglič, and the stages in the mountains have shown him where his form is after a stint away from racing.

With only three weeks until the start of the Tour de France, alarm bells may start to ring for any other rider, but for Evenepoel the feeling is quite the opposite, and he is taking positives from his week at the Dauphiné.

“There is some time [to improve before the Tour],” he said “I’m a guy who needs to race to really improve, to build shape, so that’s why I’m here otherwise I would not have been here. I think it’s good to suffer like this, it’s good for my shape, it’s good for my head, and just for my fighting spirit.”

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