Remco Evenepoel could not keep up with Primoz Roglic in Dauphiné mountain stage, so Mikel Landa was allowed to go for it

Remco Evenepoel has lost his second place in the overall standings of the Critérium du Dauphiné after the seventh stage. The Belgian quickly lost contact with the favorites on the final climb to Samoëns and eventually dropped back to sixth place in the general classification. The leader of Soudal-Quick Step saw the time loss coming.

"The form is simply not there yet," Evenepoel stated clearly after the race, addressing his lesser performance uphill. The final climb, being about ten kilometers long with an average gradient of nine percent, was extremely challenging. "On finishes like this, you need to be one hundred percent fit to perform. It's a climb that doesn't lie. I think it's clear that there's still work to be done."

However, after he dropped back, Evenepoel did not completely drop the pace. Those additional efforts could actually be beneficial for his upcoming Tour debut later this month. "But as I said at the beginning of the week, if I have to drop back, I keep pushing to improve my form. That's what I've done. It was a tough day, with more than four thousand meters of climbing, a lot of rain, technical descents."

Evenepoel expects to make progress leading up to Tour de France

"I don't think I did a bad job in light of the Tour," Evenepoel continued. "The results aren't there, but everyone knows I was here to try to win the time trial and hang on in the mountains as long as possible to test myself. That happened today."

On Sunday, it is time for the last stage of the Dauphiné, again with an uphill finish. Three weeks later, the Tour de France starts. Evenepoel states that he can make the necessary progress within that period of time. "There's still some time. I'm someone who needs a race to really improve, to build up that form. That's why I'm here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been here. It's good to suffer like this. It's good for the form, for my mind, and for my fighting spirit. Today was not out of the ordinary."

"I expected this this morning already. In the last valley, with 25 kilometers to go, I also told the team that I didn't feel good enough. I said that I would drop back immediately and ride at my own pace. That was the best possible decision," Evenepoel concludes. In the standings, the Belgian is now sixth, 2 minutes and 15 seconds behind Primoz Roglic.

Landa notices he too needs a few more percent

With Evenepoel underperforming, Mikel Landa then emerged as a sort of shadow leader. The Spaniard finished tenth, but ranks much lower in the standings behind Evenepoel and company. "We had already agreed beforehand that if I felt better than Remco, I would just ride as fast as possible," he told Het Nieuwsblad after the race.

"At the beginning of the race, Remco already said that he wasn't feeling so well, so I took his place," continued the Basque. "Suddenly, I felt that I was at my limit and had to drop back. Like Remco, I'm still missing those last few percent, but for my first race after my fall, this is good, huh."