At the end of the 13th stage, atop the Tourmalet, Remco Evenepoel quickly put on a coat and descended again, disheartened. He did not speak to the press. Remco finished more than 27 minutes behind the stage winner, Jonas Vingegaard, and his Vuelta is lost.
Throughout the stage, there was much speculation about illnesses, but nothing was confirmed. Evenepoel spoke last night through the team’s channels about his disastrous day at the Vuelta a España.
“It was one of those days when my tank was empty. We gave it everything, and I have no regrets. I would like to thank my teammates, who stayed with me all day and did everything for me. Now, we will analyze and discuss how we will approach the rest of the Vuelta,” explained Evenepoel.
In a tweet, Evenepoel expressed himself in roughly the same terms, adding, “Wolves never give up,” clarifying that the Soudal Quickstep team has a wolf as its symbol.