
Remco Evenepoel concluded the Dauphine with a fifth place in the final stage and fourth in the overall classification. In his record, he also has a victory in the individual time trial, but these results are not enough to stand on the final podium of the Tour de France.
The Belgian admitted that he has not been feeling too well in recent days, with reasons traced back to the crash last Thursday, as well as pollen allergies that created respiratory and eye problems.
Even yesterday, the Belgian had to adapt to the acceleration of Pogacar and Vingegaard, but at the same time, he managed to keep Lipowitz at bay, significantly limiting the gap from the final winner. "I may have slightly underestimated the Thursday crash. It was quite serious, and then I had many problems due to my pollen allergy". The Belgian explained that he has had these allergy-related issues since childhood, so this was not new to him. "Sunday went better. As soon as it started raining, my lungs opened up. As a child, I sometimes had severe asthma attacks. Even now, it starts with the upper respiratory tract forming mucus in the nose, then continues in the respiratory tract, and eventually breathing gets a bit blocked. We also had many hotels with carpets, and this did not help my allergies. I suffered from this last year at the Dauphine as well, and I hope the pollen level at the Tour will be lower. Today went much better and in a way, it was a copy-paste of last year. The overall feeling is definitely positive. The key now is to stay calm and continue working".
After the Dauphine, Evenepoel will leave for a high-altitude training camp in Tignes, France. In the coming weeks, he mainly wants to work on pace changes at altitude. For Pogacar and Vingegaard, pace changes do not seem to be a problem, but the Belgian wants to improve and get closer to their level. "I want to get used to pace changes and attacks on climbs. When Vingegaard and Pogacar attack and give their maximum for three minutes, when you're at the limit and can't keep their pace, this certainly takes away some morale. I need to get used to these things. These pace changes are not in my nature".