Evenepoel provides thrills and drama with Tour of Catalonia breakaway and crash

MADRID, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe was involved in dramatic scenes in the third stage of the Tour of Catalonia on Wednesday when he led a breakaway with Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, only to suffer a heavy fall 500 meters from the finish line.

Stage three of the seven-day race, one of the key early-season events, was shaped by strong crosswinds in the closing kilometers of the 159.4-km route from Mont-roig del Camp to Vila-seca, splitting the peloton into several groups.

Double Olympic champion Evenepoel showed his strength by attacking from the front group with around 30 kilometers remaining, with only two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard able to follow him.

The pair initially worked together to open up a lead of around 30 seconds before Vingegaard stopped collaborating, to Evenepoel's evident frustration, as the peloton slowly began to reel them back in pursuit of a sprint finish.

"At one point he wasn't happy with me, but this is cycling, that's how it works. We have our tactics," explained Vingegaard after the stage.

Evenepoel's efforts kept the pair eight seconds clear going into the final kilometer, but with 500 meters to go he misjudged his line into a roundabout and crashed heavily. Vingegaard was then swallowed up by the bunch, allowing Dorian Godon of INEOS Grenadiers to sprint to his second stage win of the race ahead of Ethan Vernon of NSN Cycling Team.

After receiving treatment, Evenepoel was able to finish the stage and remains second overall behind Godon, as riders who crash within the final three kilometers are credited with the peloton's time.

"I have a bit of pain everywhere. My elbow, back, and hips are scraped open. We will see what the precise consequences are for the rest of this week."

"I need to let my body recover a bit now and see how things go tonight and especially tomorrow morning," commented the Belgian.

Thursday's fourth stage takes the race into the high mountains, with 173 kilometers between Mataro and Vallter, and ends with a special-category climb to 2,110 meters that is expected to produce significant time gaps and show who the favorites are for this year's race. Enditem