Remco Evenepoel had no doubts: he was certain that today's time trial in Caen would be his, along with the yellow jersey, which however went to Pogacar. The Belgian, wearing the world champion's jersey and a gold bike, left all his rivals behind, with only the Slovenian managing to limit the damage.

"You can never be certain of winning, especially when there are good riders like Affini" – Evenepoel said after the finish – "I knew I could recover in the final and manage the race well, and that's how it went. I knew I had good chances of winning, but obviously the legs need to be there and everything must go the right way".

Evenepoel completed his time trial with a time of 36'42", 16 seconds ahead of Pogacar who finished second and 1'21" ahead of Vingegaard. In the general classification, Pogacar is now leading with a 42" advantage over Evenepoel, 59" over Vsuquelin, and 1'13" over Vingegaard.

"I didn't feel I could go faster. So, overall, I'm happy with this result and obviously with my second stage win for the team. It's fantastic".

Soudal – Quick Step had won the stage to Dunkirk with Tim Merlier, and today the success came with Evenepoel, who also won the white jersey for best young rider. "I think I pushed quite consistently. In every slightly uphill section I pushed harder than downhill, but I think my greatest strength was maintaining the same rhythm at the end of the first 10 km. I believe this really increased my pace and speed, and I think that's what we saw in the intermediate sections: I was always increasing and gaining more time in the last seven, eight kilometers, so I think I maintained a perfect pace and then I can say everything was perfect, so I'm super happy".

Satisfaction also came from beating a champion like Tadej Pogacar, and Evenepoel has prepared well for this Tour de France, but he knows perfectly well that the Slovenian is a true champion and it will be difficult to keep up with him in the mountains.

"Of course, I'm very happy to have taken 16 seconds from Tadej and more than a minute from Jonas. I think Tadej did an excellent time trial and I think compared to the Dauphiné time trial he really made a significant step forward and shows he's in great form. He's the man to beat in the Tour de France. But compared to everyone else, today I did what I needed to do to try to gain as much time as possible and move up in the general classification".

Evenepoel feels good and thinks he can make the final podium in Paris like last year, but trying to reduce the gaps. "More or less it's the same situation as last year at this point, so I'm super happy and I think it's a big step towards the podium, but obviously there's still a lot of road ahead in this Tour and I'll try to continue like this".

The Belgian knows that grand tours are not won in time trials and that mountain climbs will decide the winner. "I'm convinced that today was the first step for me to get a good result in the general classification heading to Paris, but I think the Tour doesn't end here. Obviously everyone knows what will happen next week and the week after, so there will be a lot of road to cover. Of course, it's already very nice to win a stage and with the team we've won two and now we're a bit more relaxed, but now we have to focus on the Paris podium".