For the first time in his debut Vuelta, things did not go entirely according to plan for Remco Evenepoel after the race leader became the second Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider in as many days to hit the deck on a slippery corner.
Luckily for the red jersey, the damage was not as severe as it was for his team-mate Julian Alaphilippe 24 hours earlier, the French world champion having been forced out of the race with a dislocated shoulder.
Ad For Evenepoel, the damage was just superficial – a few cuts and bruises, not least to his ego after skidding out on an innocuous corner that posed no danger, at a point in the race where the Belgian was under no real pressure.
Vuelta a EspañaRed jersey Evenepoel crashes, rages at commissairesAN HOUR AGO After venting his fury at the race director – citing the over-zealous braking of a motorcycle ahead of the peloton, plus the quality of the road surface – Evenepoel fought back into the pack and gathered his calm ahead of the final climb.