Remco Evenepoel looks 'untouchable' in red – Adam Blythe on Quick-Step star's dominant start to La Vuelta

Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) looks “untouchable” as he heads into the second rest day at La Vuelta with a big lead in the race for the red jersey, according to Eurosport expert Adam Blythe. The Belgian shredded his GC rivals, including three-time champion Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), on the final climb in Stage 9 to underline his status as the race’s strongest rider.

Ad He leads the fight for red by 1’12” from Enric Mas (Movistar), who also had no answer to the 22-year-old on Sunday, with Roglic at 1’53” in third. Vuelta a EspañaEvenepoel shreds rivals on Stage 9 as Meintjes wins from break3 HOURS AGO If Roglic is planning on a comeback charge, he will almost certainly have to claw back time on Evenepoel in Tuesday’s individual time trial over 30.9km from Elche to Alicante.

The pan-flat course should suit the Slovenian – sadly for him, however, it could suit Evenepoel even more. When asked on The Breakaway about the growing time gap between Evenepoel and his rivals, Blythe said: “It's very big indeed and that’s before we’ve got to the time trial which is arguably Remco’s strongest event within this Grand Tour.” Blythe expects Roglic to climb into second in the overall standings on Stage 10, but does not see the defending champion threatening the current leader.

'What the f*** are you doing?!' — Battistella screams at slacking rival 'You do it!' – Soler and Stannard in furious row as break falters “There will be some riders who lose time but not as much, but there will be riders such as Mas who I think will lose quite a bit of time in that time trial compared to Roglic and Remco,” he continued. “I think if Remco keeps going the way he is, he just looks untouchable at the minute.