He knew what Pogacar was doing when he decided to take off the world champion’s jersey on this stage out of respect for the true dominator of the time trial. Remco Evenepoel won the fourth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné with a time of 20:50.90, more than 20 seconds ahead of second-placed Jonas Vingegaard. In addition, the Belgian managed to take the yellow jersey from Iván Romeo, who was below expectations in what is theoretically his specialty, probably due to the accumulated fatigue of the previous day.
Although the time trial seemed ideal for specialists, with its 17.4 kilometers eminently flat, it had an important trap in the central part of the course. A climb that didn’t look so serious on the altimetry, but which, on closer inspection, was ideal for destroying the times of the sprinters: 1.6 kilometers, a short distance, but with an average gradient of 9.4% and a 200-meter stretch with a sustained gradient of over 13%.
The first specialist to cross the finish line was the Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold, reigning champion of his country in this modality, and he did it with a time of 23:00.77, improving by many minutes the rest of the times that had been recorded until then. The joy was short-lived, because his compatriot Tobias Foss got him a minute in the intermediate control and kept that difference at the finish line: 22:00.20 and provisional first position more than assured.
Many changes in the ‘hot seat’
The fastest riders in the peloton, because of that intermediate climb, could not make the times they would have liked. Tobias Foss was clear when he was still the best classified of the stage: “I have to admit that I was surprised when I did the reconnaissance, because I didn’t expect that wall in the middle there”. And it was suffered by men like Jonathan Milan, who finished with 23:26.10, the ninth fastest time up to that point.
Foss also declared, in his interview after finishing his attempt, that he had no chance of winning the stage. And the Norwegian was right. Rémi Cavagna improved his time at the intermediate checkpoint by 16 seconds, and crossed the finish line with the provisional best time (21:57.21), albeit with only a three-second advantage at the end. Other specialists, national champions of the discipline, such as Nils Politt (23:34.14) or Tim Wellens (23:17.08), were not too brilliant.
When all the favorites for the overall had already taken the start, Matteo Jorgenson (21:28.69) broke Cavagna’s time. He took 12 seconds from him at the intermediate control and almost 29 at the finish line. The American finished with 21:28.69 while waiting for the members of the ‘Big Six’ to do what they did. And what they did. Evenepoel took 30 seconds off him in the intermediate control; Vingegaard, 19; and Pogacar equaled the American’s time.
In the end, it was going to be all about the overall favorites. Evenepoel finished with a time of 20:50.90, the best by far. Vingegaard, with 21:11.82, 20 seconds behind the Belgian. Pogacar, with 21:39.50, worse than Jorgenson, surprised everyone by finishing with a time that proves he is human. The last doubt was whether Iván Romeo, who felt the effort of the previous day, would manage to keep the yellow jersey. And it was not possible. The rider from Valladolid finished 15th best, 22:16.36, so he ceded the first place in the general classification to Evenepoel.
Source: www.marca.es