Dressed in the rainbow bands, and aboard a golden bike, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) barrelled to victory in the closing time trial at the Tour de Romandie on Sunday.
The six-day Swiss race was won overall by João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who finished runner-up on the final day, 12 seconds adrift of the world and Olympic champion, but fast enough to overhaul a three-second deficit on the general classification.
With his effort, the Portuguese rider leapfrogged the previous race leader Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) in the overall standings, claiming the yellow jersey by a comfortable 26 seconds. The victory brought Almeida's second stage race win of the season, following his triumph at Itzulia Basque Country last month.
Evenepoel's victory marked his first against the clock since he defended his world title in Switzerland last September.
The Belgian’s winning time around the 17.1km course in Geneva on Sunday was 20 minutes and 33 seconds - an average speed of close to 50km/h.
"I think I did an almost perfect time trial. I gave it my all today," he said post-race.
The 25-year-old finished fifth overall, having surrendered his GC hopes to support his team-mate Junior Lecerf.
"I came to this race in quite hot-and-cold form, so I didn't have too big ambitions," Evenepoel said. "My biggest focus was on today's stage. Yesterday, I wanted to just push myself to the limit, and push the bar higher. I think I did my best today with another good time trial.
"Now I'm going to take a week off to recover from the Classics and this week in Romandie. I can take this break with a calmer head [thanks to the victory]. It also gives me motivation for what's to come."
Despite entering the race as the overall favourite, Evenepoel never really joined the GC battle in Switzerland.
The leader’s jersey at the Tour de Romandie was worn by four different riders before the final day. After Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers) blasted to victory in the opening prologue time trial, another British winner took the spotlight on stage one in Matthew Brennan, who earned his sixth victory of the season, and the yellow jersey.
Victories then followed for Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on stages two and three, with the race lead guarded by EF Education-EasyPost’s Alex Baudin.
On stage four, a shoot-out between Martinez and Almeida fell in the favour of the former, the Frenchman also heading up the GC into the final day, with only a two-second lead over Fortunato and three over Almeida. The Portuguese rider ended up beating Martinez by almost 30 seconds against the clock.
"I feel very happy," Almeida said, after overhauling the GC. "What counts is the last day... To be honest, I was struggling a little bit the whole week. I was never feeling 100% or very strong, but I gave my best and never gave up.
"Sometimes it's about your mindset and your mind, and the team were by my side to support me."
Martinez hung on to claim second overall, ahead of Vine, Almeida's team-mate, in third.
