“It’s crazy. I was on a good day. The climb was pretty tough, because I wanted to start fast but I wanted to keep something. The descent was technical and fast, you have to do it well. I enjoyed every metre of this TT. Coming out with the win is amazing so I’m super happy. I was pretty sure I had a puncture. Maybe somebody from the public dropped a glass or hit a fence – it made the same sound as a puncture! I was a bit scared, but after few metres I knew nothing was wrong. I kept pushing even with the scare, fearing that maybe it was a slow puncture so I was not as sure as before in the last few corners. I had to take risks, Tadej was close to me. Getting the victory by 12” is amazing. Tadej can do very good time trials, especially in Grand Tours. We weren’t really thinking about time gaps for GC. We wanted a stage win, and that is done. It’s a perfect day for me and my team. Mission accomplished. Now we focus on tomorrow and on Sunday. As for the rest of the Tour de France, I believe Tadej is going to be unreachable. But this is cycling, you never know what can happen. I think the further into the race we go, the better I will feel, so I’ll focus more on the podium because I feel I have the legs for it.” – Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) after winning Stage 7 of Tour de France 2024 (www.letour.fr)
