Evenepoel and Bernal spice up the opening stage of Paris-Nice with a battle for bonus seconds: "It was a very nervous and fast race"

Remco Evenepoel, along with Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic, animated the opening stage of Paris-Nice. The Belgian champion repeatedly sought bonus seconds in the Race to the Sun (and also aimed for the stage win), but couldn't break away. However, Evenepoel didn't come away empty-handed, snatching a nice four extra seconds.

"The goal was to grab bonus seconds, which we achieved," Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad. "There was one rider (Matteo Jorgenson, ed.) who was a bit smarter: he started a bit earlier. Plan A was to go on the top," Evenepoel recounted, and he did just that. "But all those who were with me were sprinters' domestiques who didn't want to collaborate. Which is their right."

Evenepoel didn't know Roglic was in his wheel

Roglic, however, didn't compete for the the bonuses, but was alert when Evenepoel launched a second acceleration in the final phase. "When we have a plan, Roglic is usually glued to my wheel. I didn't see him there; that's why I kept pushing so hard. I think he just wasn't well-positioned at the front. That's always the case in your first race of the year: you have to regain some confidence. We were riding so fast that not many guys had an answer, and for a moment, four or five of us got away. I don't know if Roglic didn't want to or couldn't keep up. You'll have to ask him."

"We did what we wanted to do. Took a few seconds, that's something. Didn't fall, that's also something. The team is solid, so that's good for morale. Purely in terms of chaos, this was probably the most dangerous stage of this Paris-Nice, and we survived it well. Everyone was immediately in the right place, so the first test in France was successful."

Continue reading below the tweet.

Egan Bernal: "Grabbing bonus seconds was not the intention"

Bernal was thus a partner in crime with Evenepoel. "It was a very nervous and fast race," the Colombian said. "Our plan was to make the race hard, and we succeeded. The team worked well, and I am happy with my performance and my day. The intention on the last climb was to be in a good position and to attack, but grabbing the bonus seconds was not part of it. However, when I saw the opportunity, I just followed the riders in front of me."