'I rode into a hole in the road' – Remco Evenepoel explains crash at Volta a Catalunya
Belgian says he has pain "everywhere" after fall in chaotic finale
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Remco Evenepoel crashed at the end of stage three of the Volta a Catalunya due to an unmarked pothole, according to the Belgian.
The Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider was ahead of the peloton with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) on Wednesday, when he fell on the approach to a roundabout.
The incident was initially inexplicable, with Vingegaard telling reporters that he didn't know what happened: "He just went over the handlebars."
Article continues belowVingegaard sat up, allowing the peloton to catch him, which meant the stage finished in a sprint, won by Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers. Evenepoel lost no time overall due to the incident being within the final 5km of the race.
"I wanted to move to the drops and at that moment there was a hole in the road that I didn’t see, and it wasn’t marked. Then I lost my handlebars," Evenepoel told Sporza later on Wednesday.
Potholes, then, are an issue beyond the UK. The Olympic champion crashed hard, which could have an impact beyond taking him out of the race on Wednesday.
"I have pain everywhere," Evenepoel explained of his injuries. "My elbow is open [cut or grazed], my back is open and my hips are open," he said. "My elbow is quite badly hit, so we have to see what is possible and what is not."
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The Belgian received immediate attention following the fall, and managed to remount his bike and finish the stage, and is still second on general classification.
"Now I need to let my body recover a bit and then we will see this evening and especially tomorrow morning what it says," Evenepoel added. Stage four finishes up an hors categorie climb to Vallter, 11.4km at 7.5%.
Evenepoel and Vingegaard escaped in crosswinds with just under 30km to go on stage three, with the former escaping first, and the latter following. However, cooperation did not always seem smooth between the pair, with Evenepoel visibly remonstrating with his break companion.
"What others do tactically is not my concern," Evenepoel said. "That’s their problem. It was clear who wanted to ride for the win and who didn’t."
For his part, Vingegaard explained: "At some points he wasn't really happy with me, but that's how it is, it's cycling, we have our tactics."
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
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