Remco Evenepoel had high hopes that the Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl team would win three out of three stages at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain, but in a tough summit finish at Antenas del Maigmo on Friday, The Russian Alexander Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) was dashed to pieces as he took both the stage win and the race lead.

Evenpoel, who fell after a powerful attack by Vlasov with 1.3km to go, briefly tried to join the fray on the climb, a mix of long, rocky gravel sections and lung-burstingly steep pavement. But the young Belgian, who had been leading the pack on Stellato, began to look increasingly unsteady, and within seconds, other competitors, including promising young Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), leapt to the front.

At the summit, Evenpoel finished eighth, shaking his head and accepting defeat.

"The best rider won today. If you can run away from the other riders, you are simply the best," Evenpoel praised the strength of his rivals.

"I think Alexandre really deserved this win. He was in a close race on the first stage as well" - he was the closest pursuer of Evenpoel when the Belgian escaped on the final climb - "so he was at a good level this week."

"I'm not disappointed with this result. But towards the end of the gravel section, I started to feel my legs filling up with lactic acid. I think the race was a kilometer too long."

Evenepoel struggled when Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) launched a daring attack with about 5km to go, sliding to the back in the main group. Evenpoel regained contact, but a momentary acceleration on a gravel section with 1.6 km to go was the final spark for an already fading candle.

Evenpoel, who had criticized Stellato before the race, again blamed the conditions, which organizers claimed to Cycling News had improved since Lemko's reconnaissance in January, after his angry ride.

"It's always special to have gravel sections like this, but it was a bit marginal. There were a lot of rocks. I think it was closer to mountain biking

"You don't need it for a climb as hard as this. One of the most famous gravel races is the Strade Bianche, but with a finish like this it's even harder."

"It would have been the same up a normal road. I can understand if they wanted to try something new, but I don't think they needed to make this gravel section harder."

Evenpoel then doubled down on his criticism, saying, "I want to pay a big compliment to the organization for making such a beautiful race."

"But it would be a shame if they made us run on small roads and told us that all the loose stones were gone and all we could see were loose stones. The race was so hard, we didn't need these gravel sectors."

Off-road sections are becoming increasingly popular in bicycle racing, but Evenpoel said they are not necessarily widely favored in the peloton.

"Teams and groups complain about riding on small roads that are, I won't say dangerous, but you can't win, but you can lose. There is also the possibility of flat tires.

"But that's not why we lost time. Alexandre was the strongest. I have to thank the team. They did a great job."

Meanwhile, despite the time loss, the Belgian rider remains in second place overall and leads the Best Young Rider ranking.

The promising young Spanish rider Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) is just four seconds back with two flat stages to go, but will probably not change his overall ranking until Sunday.

"Second place in such a hard race is still very good," Evenpoel insisted. It always takes a few races to get the best conditions, and now I'm going to give it my all for Fabio [Jacobsen, the team sprinter and stage 2 winner - editor's note]."

"We did everything we needed to do. On a climb like that, the lightweight climbers always have the advantage. I already knew that. On a climb that steep, every 1.5 kilometers counts."

"Sure, Vlasov was better. That's the reality. But today is the third day of competition, so you react and analyze what's going on. But it's not like he fell 50 kilometers from the finish or lost two minutes.

"Everyone gave their maximum.