Remco Evenepoel had to settle for seventh place in yesterday's stage and is now ninth in the general classification, 58" behind leader Mathieu van der Poel, who shares the same time as Pogacar and 50" behind Jonas Vingegaard. The Soudal-Quick Step Belgian knows he has conceded too much to his rivals and will try to recover in today's time trial in Caen.

Evenepoel is a time trial specialist, as demonstrated by his palmares, which includes both World and Olympic gold. The Belgian will start at 4:44 PM, while Vingegaard will set off at 4:56 PM and Pogacar two minutes later. The general classification leader Van der Poel will be the last to start at 5 PM.

"I'm confident about the time trial, but unfortunately I haven't explored the course yet," Evenepoel said yesterday when reached by media at the team bus. "Due to my injury last winter, I couldn't do many reconnaissance rides. I'll take a look at the route online later. On paper, it doesn't seem very technical. It should suit me and it's also very flat. I can't wait to tackle it."

Remco is the current world champion, and beating a talent like him in time trials is truly difficult. The time trial, starting and ending in Caen, will be 33 kilometers long, with high speeds expected given the entirely flat course characteristics.

The Belgian is optimistic and thinks he can recover the gap from his rivals. "I can be satisfied with yesterday, in the end I arrived with the favorites. I'm very happy with my sensations and the result, even though I was at my limit. What can we expect from the time trial? My legs will be there, that's for sure. I hope to have the same legs I felt yesterday because there's a good chance to recover the 58 seconds separating me from Pogačar. We saw the advantage I managed to gain on Tadej in the Dauphiné, even though the conditions were completely different. I gained 48 seconds in 17 kilometers. But I'm confident because I feel good and I know I can do well."