Can Friday's third stage bring a third victory for Quick-Step Alphavinir? Stage 1 winner, race leader and domestique who helped teammate Fabio Jacobsen win stage 2, Lemko Evenpoel certainly didn't rule it out on Thursday evening.
Behind the winner's podium, almost within touching distance of his teammate Jacobsen, Evenpoel insisted that he would do everything necessary to defend his lead in Friday's crunch mountain stage when the Dutchman told reporters about his impressive uphill sprint victory just minutes earlier
However, the Dutchman was not able to defend his lead.
But at the same time, he said it was not out of the question for Quick-Step Alphavinir to try for another win on the final 6km climb to Antenas del Maigmo (with a gravel section near the top).
"The most important thing on Friday is to defend the yellow jersey," Evenpoel, who currently holds a 19-second lead over Alexandre Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 37 seconds over Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), told reporters.
"But if you have a chance to win three out of three, why not?
With two Category 2 and two Category 3 climbs ahead of the Maigumo climb, Evenpoel knew he was in for a hard day in the saddle.
"Tomorrow is a super hard stage and we expect a bigger time difference than yesterday [Wednesday]," he said. But he also insisted that "if we can get a stage win, we will go for it."
On Thursday, Evenpoel's confidence was evident not only in his words but also in his actions. And he himself finished in seventh place.
"I can be proud of today, it was a dream scenario," he said. I had a plan before the stage and told everyone that if I could help, I would give it my all to finish. It worked out perfectly."
Evenpoel recognized that Quick-Step Alphavinir had used its collective hand a little too quickly in the finale when it lost the lead of the peloton to Intermarche Wanty-Gobert Matériault on the final corner.
But on a technical course like the Valenciana stage 2, which begins with a fast and winding descent from the last climb of the third category, 15 km from the line, on narrow country backroads, the peloton was able to take the lead and then the peloton was able to take the lead.
"It was a perfect situation because there was a crash, the road was quite difficult, up and down on both sides, and the downhill was slippery. So it was the same at the front, in the middle or at the back," he reasoned.
"I think we gave it our all on the big roads and showed our plan and our responsibility for the race. And to finish the race was perfect. That's two wins out of two. It gives me a lot of motivation for tomorrow."
"I'm very happy with the way we finished the race.
As for Evenepoel's chances of a complete victory, history is definitely in his favor. Evenepoel has won seven races so far.
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