Vuelta a España: Remco Evenepoel goes down swinging on the Angliru

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) has had to make some major adjustments to his racing strategy at the Vuelta a España since his capitulation on stage 13's Col du Tourmalet, but the Belgian versatility has brought him two stage wins, a vault of respect for his determination to bounce back and now he sits on the verge of mountains jersey after another heroic display on stage 17 to the top of the Angliru.

Read more: Primoz Roglic leads Jumbo-Visma 1-2-3 atop Alto de l'Angliru after Remco Evenepoel tries his hand

Granted, the young Belgian came into the race with the aim of fighting for a title defence rather than Jumbo-Visma’s scraps but on stage 17 Evenepoel was at his effervescent best, skipping into the day’s break, pushing the pace with teammate Mattia Cattaneo before going solo with around 25km to go.

Hitting the lower slopes of the legendary Angliru with a 1:25 gap on the charging peloton would be a lost cause for most riders in Evenepoel’s position but Evenepoel is no ordinary rider, and while the majority of the stage headlines will be focussed on Jumbo mulling over who within their ranks will win the overall, Evenepoel’s efforts should not be lost in the Angliru mist.

Evenepoel revved up the lower slopes of the climb as behind him Bahrain Victorious set a furious pace. The Belgian burned through half the Bahrain squad, with another clutch of Jumbo-Visma riders dropped for good measure before the gap finally began to shrink. With each excruciatingly steep hairpin, a few more seconds shaved off Evenepoel’s advantage, as the peloton was whittled down to just the best climbers in the world.

With 5.6km to go, his jersey open and earpiece dangling free Evenepoel was finally caught by the remnants of the peloton - no more than a dozen riders at that point - and while the stage win escaped him, the volley of mountain points leaves him 40 points clear of second place Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). Another day, another impressive effort from the resilient Evenepoel.

Read more:

• Romain Bardet misses out on victory but praises Remco Evenepoel
• Remco Evenepoel racks up an unprecedented number of jerseys

© Sprint Cycling Agency

Not until he was swept up by Bahrain Victorious did Remco Evenepoel accept defeat on the Angliru

“Today I already had a feeling in the morning that it wasn’t going to be for the stage win. Honestly, Sepp Kuss told me that they were going to control for the stage so I said this on the team radio and I said that I wanted to be in the break for the first two climbs and then we’d see the situation on the first part of the Angliru but the gap wasn’t big enough,” Evenepoel said at the finish.

“I could keep it at about 1:30 for quite a while but once it got steeper I really ran out of energy in my legs. It wasn’t easy at all today but we did well with scoring the points and tomorrow we’ll try and secure the jersey.”

Read more: 'I’ve shown Jumbo-Visma I’m not lying about Vuelta a España GC' - Remco Evenepoel

The last two days could have ended in breaks, only for Jumbo-Visma’s dominance to dwarf the needs of the greater good within the peloton. The overall is still far from secured with three Jumbo-Visma riders vying for the red jersey and that battle could ensure another fruitless break on stage 18.

But Evenepoel will remain resolute, and Thursday provides another chance to complete a hat trick of stages in this year’s race. It’s not what he came for but after what happened on the Tourmalet, Evenepoel is conquering the Vuelta in his own admirable way. Through attacking.

“Tomorrow is the bigger chance to be up there for the stage win,” he added.

Keep up to date with all of the latest racing news from the Vuelta a España on our dedicated race page, linked here.