Remco Evenepoel delighted to be ‘up there with the big guns’ as Tour of the Basque Country leader

Remco Evenepoel believes that leading the Tour of the Basque Country with a day to go proves that he can compete with the best general classification riders. Evenepoel showed his class in the latter stages of the penultimate climb in Stage 5, where he brought seven riders with him except previous race leader Primoz Roglic. Ad/> It was Carlos Rodríguez that took home his first professional win from the breakaway, with Ineos Grenadiers team-mate and Stage 4 winner Dani Martínez taking second place – two seconds ahead of Evenepoel.

Itzulia Basque CountryVingegaard and Vlasov crash in slow motion, do a Froome and finish race on foot20 HOURS AGO He was asked by Cycling Weekly if he thought that getting the better of Roglic in a major race was a statement result, and responded: «Thank you [for saying that]. I am really proud to finally be up there with the big guns. »I have been looking for this shape and level for a long time.

In Tirreno [-Adriatico] I was still not there, but now I feel really good, really strong, and when the team supports you it's very nice. Maybe it's that this race just suits me really well: climbs a bit shorter, a bit steeper. «I am just proud to be in the yellow jersey in the Basque Country.

It's a dream come true. When we started the season and made my program and said that I'd do Basque, the goal was to come here and try for a good GC. Now we're leading it with one day to go.