Race leader Remco Evenepoel reveals he’s still feeling ‘stiff muscles’ from Stage 12 crash at La Vuelta 2022

Remco Evenepoel has revealed he «still feels stiff muscles” from his crash on Stage 12 at La Vuelta and is “really happy” to have a rest day on Monday. Evenepoel, of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, lost just 15 seconds to Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) on Sunday's queen stage of La Vuelta after a difficult day 24 hours earlier during which he had cracked on the climb into Sierra de la Pandera, with his injuries hampering his form. Ad He will now take a 1’34” lead going into the final week as he looks to hold off Roglic and Enric Mas (Movistar), who is 2’01” behind the Belgian.

Vuelta a España‘Roglic didn’t look particularly comfortable’ – Lloyd on lack of Stage 15 ‘fireworks’2 HOURS AGO “It's actually my first time finishing [at] high [altitude] so I think I did quite well. Jumbo [Visma] did a really good race, my team as well,” said Evenepoel of Stage 15, which saw the riders reach the race's highest point of 2,512m at Alto Hoya de la Mora. “The start was really hard again, then [there was] a bit of a strange breakaway.

I still feel stiff muscles from the crash but it’s getting better every day so I’m really happy that it’s a rest day tomorrow and that I actually lost almost nothing. So [it’s been] a good day for us.” Evenepoel, who took the red jersey after Stage 6, has never completed a Grand Tour whilst Roglic is a three-time winner of La Vuelta. ‘Roglic didn’t look particularly comfortable’ – Lloyd on lack of Stage 15 'fireworks' Valverde among riders blocked from World Championships amid relegation fears The 22-year-old admits his crash from three days ago has “not been easy to cope with”.