Evenepoel dominates time trial to stretch Vuelta lead

VALENCIA, Spain: Remco Evenepoel won stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday, extending his overall lead in the race by dominating a flat 30.9km individual time-trial from Elche to Alicante.

The 22-year-old Belgian not only won his first stage on the race but also extended his overall lead on defending champion Primoz Roglic by 48 seconds.

Last down the ramp at the Elche start line, Evenepoel was already in the race leader’s red jersey ahead of a time-trial that suited his strengths.

The Quick-Step leader timed 33min 18sec on the day while three-time defending champion Roglic was a distant second.

After speeding across the line with an average speed of 55.7 km/h, Evenepoel was kissed by his team director before lying flat on his bike frame for around a minute.

He came into the race claiming a stage win was his target.

“Now we’re going to fight to try to win this Vuelta,” Evenepoel vowed Tuesday.

“It was actually really hard,” he said.

“The pressure is off. I won a stage. Now the whole team is super confident, I think. Everybody is performing so well and now we just have to fight to keep this jersey and take it home to Wevelgem.”

Evenepoel is now 2min 41sec ahead of Slovenian Roglic in the overall standings with Spain’s Enric Mas of Movistar third at 3min 03sec.

Rounding out the top five are Carlos Rodriguez of Ineos at 3min 55sec and Simon Yates at 4min 50sec.

Touted in Belgium as the ‘new Eddy Merckx’ before he plunged into a ravine in Italy in 2020 and broke a hip, Evenepoel has won 11 races this season.

In Spain, he has the world champion Julian Alaphilippe to guide his every move and given his current advantage, the Vuelta should be his to lose if he plays his cards right.

Sam Bennett became the