It could have been a whole lot worse. A little over three kilometres from the top of La Pandera, after Remco Evenepoel’s previously smooth spinning had given way to deliberate, strained pedal strokes, it looked as though the Vuelta a España was slipping from his grasp.
Primož Roglič’s probing effort on the stiffest slopes of the climb had now morphed into a full-scale attack on Evenepoel’s red jersey. On stage 14, for the first time since the race left Utrecht, the Belgian’s seemingly irresistible momentum had stalled.
As Roglič’s advantage edged out beyond 40 seconds, Evenepoel found himself floundering to match the pace of men he had distanced seemingly at will every time the mood had taken him over the previous two weeks. For a few hundred metres, he seemed to be teetering on the brink.
“It wasn’t my best day, for sure. I didn’t have the best legs, and I couldn’t accelerate when Roglič went,” said Evenepoel, who ultimately limited his losses on Roglič to 51 seconds to retain the red jersey. “I’m still 1:50 ahead in GC, so it’s nothing to really panic about. I’ll try to recover as much as possible and survive tomorrow.”
For all Evenepoel’s sangfroid after the finish, there were surely moments of panic when Roglič disappeared out of view. Still, his resolve never wilted, not even when he was caught by Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), riding unhappily on an unfamiliar neutral service bike. As the climb drew on, the gradient eased slightly, and that surely helped too.
“I was just focused on my effort,” Evenepoel said. “I think on a hard climb like this, it’s just man against man. Today we lost a small battle, but we didn’t lose the big battle.”
Even before Evenepoel reached the flamme rouge, it was already clear that he would save the red jersey, and he limited his losses further on the short, sweeping descent in the final kilometre. He crossed the line 8th on the stage, 56 seconds down on winner Richard Carapaz (Ineos) and 48 down on Roglic, who also picked up a three-second bonus.
In the overall standings, Evenepoel’s lead on Roglič shrinks to 1:49, while Mas now moves to within 2:43. Those gaps are still imposing, but the air of invulnerability has dissipated.
“I think I already made the others lose the same amount of time that I lost today,” Evenepoel said. “I think that’s the normal story of a Grand Tour: you gain some time on some guys, you lose some time on some guys. That’s why it’s…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…