'It was a big mistake from us' - Remco Evenepoel suffers 'stupid time loss' on Tour de France stage one

The double Olympic champion was one of many GC riders to ship time after echelons chaos

Remco Evenepoel
(Image credit: Getty Images)

This was not how stage one of the Tour de France was meant to go for Remco Evenepoel, and definitely not how it was meant to go for a Belgian team whose DNA is built on creating and profiting from crosswind-induced echelons, not being caught out by them.

But after only one day’s racing, Soudal Quick-Step and Evenepoel are already on the back foot in the Tour, losing 39 seconds to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) after the peloton fractured with 17km remaining.

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Chris Marshall-Bell

A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and long reads across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013. In 2024 he released a seven-part podcast documentary, Ghost in the Machine, about motor doping in cycling.

Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains. He lives in Valencia, Spain.

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