Remco Evenpole (Deceuninck-Quick Step) sounded confident on Friday when asked if he thought he had won the Vuelta a Burgos with one of the three summit finishes remaining.

Six Belgian racers are within a minute of each other in the GC, with George Bennett (Jumbo Visma) the closest at 18 seconds.

But while the gap is narrow, it seems unlikely, if not impossible, to overtake Evenpoel after Thursday's stunning mountain performance and solo victory.

"It's still a dream with 150km to go," the Belgian said after his teammate Sam Bennett won Friday's rugged stage to Loa de Duero.

"But to get even one stage win is a dream, and Thursday was a perfect day for us because we didn't lose any time. I got so many congratulations with messages, maybe more than when I won in San Sebastian (2019)."

For Evenepoel, the heavy lifting in the Burgos stage race would seem to be over. He was in the center of the action in Tuesday's short and intense summit finish at Burgos Castle. Saturday's stage is only 8 km longer than Thursday's stage, and in terms of overall climbing distance, the trek into the mountains of eastern Burgos is not as difficult as stage 3.

Last but not least, the summit finish is not too tough either. While there were some dauntingly tough hills on the Picon Blanco, the final climb to Lagunas de Neira is only 4 km shorter than 8 km, and Lagunas de Neira is also more stable, albeit with a frighteningly steep "ramp" at the end of the climb.

On paper, stage 5 was also memorable for widening the gap to Evenpoel, with the Belgian all-rounder's performance on Thursday a major deterrent.

But in this most unpredictable cycling season, no one is taking anything for granted, and a long-distance attack by a team like Movistar, which has nothing to lose, could turn the apple box upside down again. There is also the risk of echelon if the wind suddenly picks up as it did on Tuesday and Thursday.

"There's certainly going to be a big fight on the final climb," Evenpoel predicted.

"But the stage isn't too difficult, so I think there will be less stress before the climb."

"There are two guys who can run at a high pace on the climbs and protect me.

Evenpole insisted that "the most important thing is the GC" rather than Dečuninck-Quickstep's hat trick on Saturday.

"Of course you can go for the stages if you can," but the first objective is to keep the jersey.