Evenepoel blows away field on stage four of Criterium du Dauphiné to take overall lead
Time-trial maestro Remco Evenepoel laid down a marker in the fourth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, winning the 17.4km race against the clock in style to move top of the overall classification.
The 25-year-old Belgian tasted Olympic gold in the discipline last year and is also the double time-trial world champion, and showed his pedigree by blowing away a field containing Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.
Evenpoel raced home 21 seconds ahead of second-placed Dane Vingegaard, with USA's Matteo Jorgenson a further 17 seconds back in third. Pogacar just missed the podium at 49 seconds behind Evenepoel, with German Florian Lipowitz fifth and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel sixth.
'I'm surprised with the gaps,' Evenepoel said. 'It's quite big on quite a short TT so I'm very happy to have put over a second per kilometre on everybody, and even two seconds per kilometre on some. I'm feeling good and it's always nice to bring home a World Tour victory.'
Evenepoel now slips on the leader's yellow jersey for the 77th edition of the Dauphiné, which will be decided in the last three stages in the Alps from Friday. His win was the 1,000th victory in the history of his Soudal Quick-Step team, following its creation in 2003 by Patrick Lefevere under the name Quick Step-Davitamon.
'I'm very happy with this victory, it's the 1,000th of the team,' Evenepoel added. 'It's a special day, I'm very proud to have done it.'
Of the three frontrunners for the overall win, Pogacar now finds himself the least well-placed. Although the overall classification is far from set, the Slovenian is now in eighth place, 38 seconds behind Evenepoel, while Vingegaard is 16 seconds back in fifth.
Thursday's stage five is a hilly 183km run from Saint-Priest to Macon.
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