Opinion: Courageous Remco Evenepoel staring down the barrel of defeat to Primoz Roglic in La Vuelta

They say that form is temporary but class if permanent. And this was very much on display across the board during Saturday’s captivating showdown on La Pandera in La Vuelta. Take Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), for instance.

The Olympic champion entered this race in poor form but proved his class once again to take his second win in three days – this time producing the goods while the battle for red played out in his wake and threatened to steal his thunder. Ad Ecuador’s Olympic champion Carapaz is way too good a rider to be moping around outside the top 15 of a Grand Tour. But he has shown what a strong and canny bike rider he is these past few days – reigniting his race on Thursday with a win on Penas Blancas, dropping a few minutes back the next day to conserve his energy, then delivering the goods once again on Saturday.

Vuelta a España'Doomsday scenario' — Everything being done to stop Evenepoel catching Covid, says manager5 HOURS AGO Victory also puts Carapaz very much in the frame for the polka dot jersey – and the momentum is certainly in his favour to pip Jay Vine to a stage hat-trick that would also seize the KOM crown from the Australian’s head. But enough of the subplots to this Vuelta. What of the main event – the battle for red? A battle which looked a bit stale, in all fairness, until Remco Evenepoel’s (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) crash two days ago.

If the Belgian didn’t appear to show any after-effects of his tumble on Friday, he certainly felt the pinch one day later. Roglic gains time on Evenepoel as red jersey cracks and Carapaz wins dramatic Stage 14 Blythe reveals how Evenepoel showed signs of discomfort as red jersey cracks Evenepoel’s class is impeachable. Ever since he burst onto the scene he’s