Remco Evenepoel and the Soudal-QuickStep squad are aiming for a prime three end in Tuesday’s essential crew time trial on the UAE Tour, Belgian media reported, which the enter with the twin goals of defending Tim Merlier’s total lead and putting Remco Evenepoel as excessive up the overall classification as doable.
Evenepoel is already in a powerful place total after he and 12 different riders broke away in Monday’s echelon-filled stage 1. The world champion is sitting in sixth place on the GC at 8 seconds behind his teammate.
The most important time gaps between the WorldTour crew within the final TTT on the race, on a really related course in 2019, have been just below a minute. The gaps on the quick, flat however very quick TTT course spherical Khalifa Port on Tuesday might be equally small however in a race the place final yr’s prime 5 finishers on GC have been all inside a minute, they are going to be equally vital.
“Now we have three actually good time triallists,” Evenepoel advised Belgian reporters, probably referring to himself, Mauro Schmid and Josef Cerny.
We should attain the end line with a minimum of 4,” stated the Evenepoel quote in Het Nieuwsblad. “If you happen to nonetheless have seven riders after a short while trial of seventeen kilometers on the line, one thing has gone unsuitable alongside the way in which.”
Evenepoel’s aim is a prime three on the stage, however fairly other than the putting, he and his crew can be trying intently on the gaps between themselves and Bahrain Victorious, driving for GC contender Pello Bilbao and Ineos-Grenadiers with Luke Plapp. After stage 1 Bilbao was on the identical time as Evenepoel and Plapp had a bonus of three seconds.
Different pre-stage favourites undoubtedly embrace Jumbo-Visma, winner of the UAE’s solely earlier TTT and on the Vuelta a España final yr, together with UAE Group Emirates. Each groups have been badly caught out in Monday’s echelons and know {that a} standout efficiency at Khalifa is a crucial, if unsure, gateway again into the GC sport.
Tim Merlier was unreservedly nervous about driving within the TTT, saying cheerfully “the way in which I’ve seen Remco experience and the way in which my legs really feel now… I am not feeling upbeat about it. It’ll be hell.” Pieter Serry, because of be driving after Evenepoel within the line which might be essentially the most troublesome place of all, was grimly decided about his possibilities, saying, “I’ll grasp on so long as doable.”
A prime three will be the said aim for Soudal-QuickStep, which had practised their TTT on a distant stretch of UAE freeway within the countdown to the race, finally the specified final result is at all times the highest step. As Het Nieuwsblad quoted sports activities director Klaas Lodewyck as saying “profitable should even be achievable.”
