Evenepoel: Decathlon will attack for the final podium place
Remco Evenepoel is in a good situation heading into the crucial brace of final mountain stages of the Tour de France. He's firmly in second overall and on Sunday was the only rider to stay with race leader Tadej Pogačar and Isaac del Toro.
But with Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG outfit suffering from illness, Evenepoel predicted after Thursday's stage that Decathlon-CMA CGM would try to take advantage, as Paul Seixas is just 20 seconds behind Del Toro in both the race for the final podium spot and the white jersey of best young rider.
"I'm not going to take crazy risks to jeopardize my second place," Evenepoel told Sporza. "I think that a team like Decathlon-CMA CGM will now pull out the stops to attack Del Toro's third place," and in particular to see if Del Toro is next in line for UAE's sick bay.
Evenepoel predicted a crazy Alpe d'Huez stage Friday, noting that the massive crowds expected could shape the race by hemming riders in on the climb, and that he expected aggressive racing. With UAE below full strength, he said, "There will be less control in the peloton and that will make the course different."
