Remco Evenepoel put in an unbelievable ride on stage three of the Tour of Denmark, coming back from a crash to then lap the peloton.
The 21-year-old Belgian star was among the favourites to win the general classification in the five-stage race and didn’t disappoint on the undulating 219km stage.
Evenepoel’s first attack came around 46km from the finish as he put down the hammer in the leading group, attacking again a few kilometres later and causing a split among the group.
Into the final 35km and Evenepoel found himself in an attacking group with Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), but Evenepoel misjudged a corner on a descent, leaving the road and almost dashing his hopes.
However the Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider was able to chase down the leading group after the mistake, as he crossed the finish line for the first time with around 18km to the line.
Evenepoel attacked again 17km from the finish to finally drop his companions, as he took on two full laps of the finishing circuit.
As the race split to pieces on the tough, punchy course, Evenepoel continued to ride away from his nearest rivals and began gaining time on the peloton, which had also entered the finishing laps.
With 1.5km to go, Evenepoel passed the biggest group on the road, which included his team-mate Mark Cavendish, with Evenepoel crossing the line 1-29 ahead of his nearest rivals and 13 minutes ahead of the bunch.
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Evenepoel now leads the race overall by 1-33 to Lotto-Soudal’s Tosh Van Der Sande.
Tour of Denmark 2021, stage three: Tønder to Vejle (219.2km)
1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 4-54-44
2. Tosh van der Sande (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-29
3. Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team, at 1-32
General classification after stage three
1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 12-44-14
2. Tosh van der Sande (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-33
3. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-36
