Evenepoel doesn’t fall for Pogacar’s trap: "He didn’t seem very happy with that yellow jersey"

Evenepoel had a difficult preparation for the Tour. Earlier this month in the Critérium du Dauphiné, he couldn’t keep up with the best on the climbs and he was struggling with illness shortly before the Tour de France. However, after the first Tour weekend, Evenepoel can look back with a good feeling. After two tough stages, he is second in the overall standings, tied for time with Pogacar.

This now gives Evenepoel the white jersey, since Pogacar no longer competes in the young rider classification. "Was I already fed up with that regular jersey? No, not necessarily. It happened by chance, but here we are," Evenepoel jokes. According to Pogacar, he could have taken the yellow jersey as well. "He didn’t seem very happy with that yellow jersey. He did not have the intention to take the yellow this early on in the Tour," Evenepoel says, referring to the many duties that come with wearing the yellow jersey.

Since Evenepoel and Pogacar are tied for time in the standings, the stage results determine who wears yellow. Tomorrow, Evenepoel could easily exchange the white for yellow. "Then I’ll stay behind him," he laughs, preferring not to finish lower than Pogacar on Monday. "We’ll see. If it’s yellow, all the better. If it’s not yellow, then so be it," the Belgian says. He is clearly not stressing himself out about it.

On the last ascent of San Luca, Evenepoel couldn’t follow Pogacar’s scorching attack. In the final phase, however, he fought his way back to the Slovenian and Jonas Vingegaard, together with Richard Carapaz. "I was right behind Pogacar when he attacked, but my legs just filled up because I had just leaped ahead from a second group right before that."

"It’s a shame I had to waste some energy just before his attack, otherwise I might have been able to go with him. But it turned out well in the end, and I finished with those two guys, that’s important," concludes Evenepoel. "I always saw them riding. I think they were never more than ten seconds ahead. I had to keep pushing until the line, I had no choice. Maybe we would have come back faster if Carapaz had cooperated," Evenepoel adds a dig at his competitor.