"I don't remember anything. I was racing and then I woke up in the emergency room."

Good morning,

These are today's quotes and interviews worth your time.

Stood out to me today: "I didn't learn much, except that the chasers were idiots."

¡Vamos!

🎤 INTERESTING INTERVIEWS

"You might wonder whether I should have gone for the stage win myself."

Remco Evenepoel on sacrificing his own ambitions for Lipowitz at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

The role was unfamiliar. Remco Evenepoel had spent his career at Soudal Quick-Step as the undisputed leader in every race he entered. At Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, the dynamic is different. "It was actually a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision," he told Sporza. "The plan was to still try something on the second-to-last climb."

Halfway up that climb, he felt the legs weren't there. Not bad enough to coast, but not sharp enough to go all-in. "I could ride hard, but I didn't feel like I could push past my limit. I didn't want to take any risks. The effects of the crash lingered more than I'd expected." He had been dealing with the aftermath of a fall for several days, and this stage was not the day to force it. Instead, he set the pace on the descent — knowing the technical layout would cause problems — then worked with Afonso Eulalio of Bahrain Victorious in the valley before upping the tempo on the final climb to set up Florian Lipowitz.

He ended up losing only a handful of seconds to Lipowitz and Lenny Martinez. "You might wonder whether I should have gone for the stage win myself. But the race would have played out differently. With this tactic, I did something good for Lipo, and also for myself, because I gained a lot of time on the riders behind me."

He was already looking past the stage. "Tomorrow's final stage into Barcelona should suit me. The overall is more or less decided, so I think there will be room to try something."

"We need fewer races and better organization."

Eusebio Unzue on Movistar Team's future, the sport's structural problems, and life after Nairo Quintana

Eusebio Unzue does not waste words, and he doesn't run from hard questions. Sitting down with Marca at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, the Movistar Team general manager addressed the results, the team's search for a second sponsor, and the departure of Nairo Quintana in the same tone: measured, direct, unblinking.

On the season: results have been below expectations, though he points to bad luck as a contributing factor. Orluis Aular crashed at Milano-Sanremo. Iván Romeo was involved in a crash in Paris-Nice and is still recovering. Enric Mas has been working his way back from his own setbacks, with the Volta as a first real test. Cian Uijtdebroeks is still settling in, but Unzue backs the signing: "We had been following him since his last year in the juniors. He went to Bora, then to Jumbo. Young riders are eager to move up quickly these days. But in his fifth year as a professional we now have a more mature rider with clearer goals."

On the sponsor search, he was unvarnished: "Nothing is finalized. I would like to say there is, but that's not the case." On Quintana, he spoke generously: "He was a turning point for us. He restored our belief that we could win the Tour. When riders like that leave, the void they leave is significant."

The sharpest part of the interview was about the sport itself. Unzue sees the current moment as one that demands structural change, and he said so plainly. "We have too many races, an overcrowded calendar, and that means some of them lose their meaning. Maybe we need to prioritize rather than add more. We have a mix of everything right now, a chaotic landscape. We need fewer races and better organization. Sometimes with so many races we dilute the value of some of them. Although not everyone will like it, we know something has to change." He acknowledged that some teams might resist, but framed the long view as the only one that makes sense: "If we think about what's best for the sport overall and look at the medium to long term, I think people will come to see the value of what we're trying to do."

"In the past I have raced a Giro with cracked ribs. I'm used to it by now."

Debora Silvestri on her crash at the Milano-Sanremo Donne, her recovery, and what she promises next

A week after her crash on the descent of the Cipressa at the Milano-Sanremo Donne, Debora Silvestri was already on her way home from the hospital in Sanremo, making the five-hour journey back to Veneto. The diagnosis: a microfracture to the scapula and five broken ribs.

She can't recall the crash itself at all. "I don't remember anything. I was racing and then I woke up in the emergency room. They told me I was conscious after the crash and answering questions, but I've blocked it out because of the trauma. I tried to piece together what happened by watching the video. And I immediately thought: it could have been so much worse."

The early days were the hardest. The main concern was a lung contusion: fluid buildup in the lung, an air pocket, and the risk that it could get worse. Antibiotics resolved it within two days, and from there her recovery progressed quickly.

Speaking to TuttoBiciWeb, she described the flood of messages from fans and well-wishers, mostly warm, though not all. "I wasn't expecting such an outpouring of support. I was amazed by the number of people who reached out, worried about me. On social media there were also keyboard warriors who wrote some very ugly and sexist things, but I was never bothered by them, because I saw once again the best of the cycling community."

She plans to get back on the rollers as soon as possible. Her legs and arms are uninjured, and she is no stranger to racing with broken ribs. "In the past I have raced a Giro with cracked ribs. I'm used to it by now."

She closed with a personal message for the fans: "I want to thank everyone for the support. You really moved me. I hope to see you again soon at the races. Sending you a big hug — but not too tight, because my ribs still hurt a little."

"I try to think about nothing, kind of meditating on the bike."

Silvan Dillier on four and a half hours alone at the front of Milano-Sanremo

340 watts. Four and a half hours. No help. That was Silvan Dillier's Milano-Sanremo. The Swiss Alpecin-Premier Tech rider has done this job before: controlling the breakaway on the front of the peloton is his assigned role at the race, and he had done it alone the year before too.

But this year, despite the presence of Tadej Pogačar as one of the other main favorites, UAE Team Emirates-XRG offered nothing. "It's surprising, because you have basically one of the biggest favorites of the race, and you're not willing to control. It seems a little bit odd," he told CyclingNews. "But in the end, we also have one of the big favorites in our team." With Mathieu van der Poel on the start list, Alpecin had no choice but to do the work themselves.

He runs on 120 grams of carbs per hour, broken into 15-minute eating windows. Mentally, he goes somewhere else entirely. "I try to think about nothing, kind of meditating on the bike. I definitely try to stay positive in my thoughts, but the easiest way to do this is just think about nothing. I try to break down my whole effort into smaller pieces. After a couple of these, when you really start to get into your rhythm and flow, 15 minutes actually passes by pretty quickly." He estimated his FTP around 400 to 420 watts, and noted that his power output at this year's race was actually higher than the year before.

The day ended in disappointment: Van der Poel crashed and couldn't finish. But Dillier, characteristically, reframes it. The ride earned him significant positive feedback, which he acknowledges he would not have received had he shared the workload. And he is firm on what would have happened without the crash: "My belief: without the crash, without the problem with his hand, he would still have been able to win it. Win it a third time himself, and a fourth in a row for the team."

🏆 THE SERGE BAGUET AWARD

"I didn't learn much, except that the chasers were idiots. That got me worked up."

— Tom Boonen, Sporza, on his first day in the Soudal Quick-Step team car at the E3 Saxo Classic, watching the chase group — featuring Per Strand Hagenes, Jonas Abrahamsen, Gianni Vermeersch, and Stan Dewulf — fail to close the gap.

Wonder what The Serge Baguet Award is all about? Check it out here.

💬 QUICK QUOTES

"We take this incident very seriously, as it put the safety of our colleagues at risk. Our staff on site immediately went to the police and also reported the incident to the race organization. In the end, no equipment was stolen and no damage was caused. The colleagues in the car are okay, but understandably shaken." — Richard Plugge, general manager of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, on CyclingNews, after two aggressive and intoxicated spectators targeted the team car at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali — one jumping on the roof to steal a bike, the other punching the driver's-side window.

"It's a bit of a strange one, but I rode the last 2 kilometers on a flat front tire. It was really difficult — I was almost completely flat, I could feel I couldn't get out of the saddle because the rim was hitting the ground, so I was trying to push as much weight as possible onto the back wheel. I was thinking, I have no idea how I'm going to sprint like this. In the end I managed to sprint sitting down, but yeah, that's never happened to me before." — Lenny Martinez, Cycling Pro Net, after beating Florian Lipowitz in the sprint for second place at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage.

"My knee is like a balloon at the moment." — Tom Pidcock, on Instagram, providing a medical update after his crash in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Friday, with his knee requiring rest but nothing more serious.

"Remco did an incredible job for me. I feel bad that I couldn't follow Jonas, and I think Remco had the legs to win the stage. I feel a bit guilty about that." — Florian Lipowitz, Cycling Pro Net, after his stage win at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.

"It was a shame that Riccitello let a gap form. That's what screwed everything up." — Cian Uijtdebroeks, Sporza, after being dropped on the descent and losing contact with the Vingegaard-Evenepoel group in yesterday's Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage.

"I was dealing with a cold the last few days and it definitely affected my race in E3. So the medical staff decided I won't race and keep the focus on the coming week." — Mads Pedersen, on Instagram.

"You do notice that, when you haven't done Paris-Nice or Tirreno and haven't been squeezed dry there, you are still entering a bit of a new phase of the season. It's nice to feel that freshness at this point." — Dylan van Baarle, In Koers, on his atypical Classics preparation spent training in Andorra rather than racing at Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice.

"Some years ago, it was still possible to win without being in perfect shape, because there were still riders sprinting from 400 meters out. If you were on the right wheel, you could just pass them. It was way, way easier to win without top shape back then than it is now. Like the 2019 Tour of Slovenia, the first stage — I was coming back from holiday with just three days on the bike, and I still won the race." — Pascal Ackermann, WielerFlits, on how much the level in the peloton has risen in recent years.

That's it for today. See you tomorrow 👋

Jay