The downhill fall in the Sega di Ala stage was fatal to the young Belgian of the Deceuninck
The tweet late Wednesday evening, a few hours after the end of the Sega di Ala stage, says it all. Discomfort, disappointment, respect for a race in which he strongly wanted to participate but also resolutions for the future.
After all, if you are 21 years old and you have had the headlights on you for some time in world cycling for your class and your potential, what do you want to do?
Remco Evenepoel will not leave on Thursday morning from Rovereto towards Stradella to take part in the eighteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia.
His first pink race, where he failed to make his mark, except for a week running in the top positions of the standings, basically ended on Wednesday in the descent of Passo San Valentino, the starter mountain of the final climb at Sega di Ala. In the fall in which the two leaders of Trek Segafredo, Giulio Ciccone and Vincenzo Nibali were also involved (even the departure of the Squalo is in strong doubt), the Belgian, due to a curve taken too wide, ended up against a guardrail ending ruinously on the ground.
Evenepoel’s suffering at the finish line in Sega di Ala
Medicated by Doctor Thirteen, after a few minutes he left and, escorted by some teammates, he arrived at the finish in the group of sprinters suffering more than half an hour from the leaders.
The grimaces of pain said it all, then Wednesday evening, the announcement of the retirement, even on his very popular social profiles.
“Obviously it’s sad to leave the race and my first big lap too soon, but in the end it was a good experience and I hope to come back one day again. I wish all my Deceuninck teammates the best, ”he wrote.
One of these, Joao Almeida, after the bad test of Sestola, fourth stage and first uphill finish, had been sacrificed by the team right in the Montalcino hamlet to stay close to the captain.
At Sega di Ala, however, the young Portuguese proved to be better than everyone else, increasing the regrets in the Belgian team.
Evenepoel leaves a Giro which he had presented himself after 9 months of stoppage following the fracture of the pelvis suffered in the disastrous fall at the Giro d’Lombardia last August. Months of training without racing, interspersed with periods of stop for a complicated convalescence, could not be enough to make a good impression in a demanding three-week race like the Giro d’Italia. Also for the “predestined”, whose mere presence in the pink race had attracted a number of media representatives from the north that have never been seen since Merckx’s time. But Remco will return, the class certainly does not love him, the character, as we have seen in these three weeks, as well.
.