Frustrated Evenepoel knocks microphones away after 'ridiculous' team time trial: "It was a matter of life and death"

Remco Evenepoel expressed strong criticism of the Vuelta a España organization after the team time trial. Due to heavy rain and falling darkness, the race was extremely dangerous according to the cyclist. "Tomorrow, everyone will probably be angry at me for criticizing this, but it's just very dangerous," he said to IDLProCycling.com after the finish.

Evenepoel and his teammates from Soudal-Quick Step, despite the poor conditions, rode a good team time trial. They finished fourth, six seconds behind DSM-Firmenich, which started early and was able to ride in relatively good conditions. "We were super careful in the corners. We're here with ambitions for the general classification and obviously didn't want to fall. Unfortunately, James Knox had a flat tire. But that's not the most important thing," said Evenepoel afterwards.

"You all have lights on your cameras, so it's clearly dark," the Belgian began his criticism. "Can you imagine what it's like in the peloton, with water in your face? You can't see a meter in front of you; it's super dangerous. Tomorrow, everyone will probably be angry at me for criticizing this, but it's just very dangerous. It's like driving your car in the dark at two hundred kilometers per hour on the highway without lights."

According to Evenepoel, the organization could have anticipated this. "You could organize a team time trial during the day when it was dry. You can't change the rain, but you can change other conditions, like lighting. This was life-threatening. It was a matter of life and death on the bike," he ranted.

"We push the limits; it's a race after all; we want to win, and that's why we take many risks. If it's also that dark, it's just ridiculous," he concluded angrily. Evenepoel's irritation was such that he knocked away interviewers' microphones in frustration, as can be seen in footage from Sporza.

Vervaeke: "Are we monkeys in the zoo perhaps?"

Teammate Louis Vervaeke agreed with the words of his leader. "Are we monkeys in a zoo, perhaps? We couldn't see anything, no lines on the road, no corners? Why don't we start an hour earlier? That would have been much better. We just couldn't pick the right lines in the corners," said the Belgian to Eurosport.