Evenepoel explains why he backed out of sprint against major rival Roglic and others

"I didn't want to fully engage in the sprint because Cort and Roglic were still there," began Evenepoel, who crossed the finish line in 27th place. "Taking risks wouldn't be wise with Tuesday's stage in mind. That will be a tough stage, so it's important that we recover enough before that ride." Tuesday's stage is similar to Monday's, although the former is about forty kilometers longer.

"Otherwise, I felt okay on the bike," he continued about the 142-kilometer stage from Gannat to the Col de la Loge. "It was quite tough, resulting in a fast stage. We always had a tailwind. But I felt quite okay. I wasn't dropped, so that's positive. Of course, stages like this can't yet be compared to those at the end of this week. This was still just a relatively easy hill stage," the team's strongman said, not getting ahead of himself.

So Evenepoel did not engage in the sprint. Prior to the stage, he hinted that might be the case. "It's going to be difficult to create action, especially since there's also some headwind on the climb. I actually think that no one really benefits from attacking here, so I think it will end up being a sprint with about thirty to forty people," the youngster shared his prediction, which turned out to be quite accurate (the first peloton consisted of about 55 riders).

"Ilan and I both have a good chance when it comes to a finish like that, so we'll have to see during the stage who feels best and can go for the sprint," he also mentioned in Gannat. Van Wilder, however, did not go all out either (he finished 21st). "It wasn't really my intention to get involved in that sprint," Evenepoel said afterward, slightly altering his tune. "There's still a lot to come."