"Then I would say they shouldn't be experts."
Good morning,
These are today's quotes and interviews worth your time.
Stood out to me today: "🐐"
¡Vamos!
🎤 INTERESTING INTERVIEWS
"There was more stress and fuss than was necessary."
Remco Evenepoel on arriving in Catalunya after a chaotic camp exit
The end of Remco Evenepoel's altitude block on Tenerife made more noise than it should have. Storm conditions triggered government restrictions on the descent, and for a moment his travel to Barcelona looked uncertain. Speaking to Sporza the day before the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Evenepoel was relaxed about it.
"The government measures were maybe a little too extreme. It was actually still quite manageable to get down the mountain." He drove to a lower elevation on the island. "It was genuinely dangerous for about ten minutes, but after that it was dry. There was more stress and fuss than was necessary." The timing had caught him mid-session. "I was doing my block training on the rollers when they told me I had an hour to leave, but the main work was already done." He arrived in Catalunya without missing anything meaningful: "In the afternoon I was still able to ride down below, and the next day I rode easy. I got here, and that's what matters."
His objectives for the week are familiar. "I want to get the maximum out of it and test myself to see if I've improved since last month. As always, we're targeting stage wins and finishing as high as possible in the overall. But first we focus on stage wins, and then you're automatically in contention for the GC. Winning is always good for team morale and the mind."
Evenepoel will share leadership duties with Florian Lipowitz, a pairing they'll carry into the Tour de France. Tactics between them remain open. "The majority of this route probably suits me better, with the more explosive work. Sprinting with bonuses at the finish will be important."
On Jonas Vingegaard, he was direct: "He'll definitely be in contention for the win." And he welcomed what Paris-Nice showed. "It was great to watch him race like that there. Hopefully we get more of that this week, with those attacks and opening the race up early. That works in my favor too."
"Then I would say they shouldn't be experts."
Jonas Vingegaard on doubts about his chances against Tadej Pogačar
Jonas Vingegaard watched Milano-Sanremo, and what he saw impressed him. "It was a dramatic race with the crash," he told a press conference ahead of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, with quotes collected by Feltet. "It was also a really good race to watch. A lot happened. I was very impressed by what I saw. That he came back and dropped everyone. Also that Wout van Aert made the podium."
Pogačar's early-season dominance, stacked on top of a crushing 2025 campaign, has led some analysts to suggest Vingegaard is already on the back foot heading into July. He pushed back hard. "Then I would say they shouldn't be experts." Rather than viewing Pogačar's form as a problem, he frames it as a driver. "Having a rival like Pogačar means everyone works harder and has to step up to win. We try to get better every day."
His race calendar, he added, is not built around his rival's schedule. "I don't really think about whether he's there or not. I choose the races I want to ride, and then I race to win them." After Catalunya, Vingegaard heads to altitude to prepare for the Giro d'Italia, where he'll look to complete the Grand Tour set following his Tour de France victories and last year's Vuelta a España win.
🏆 THE SERGE BAGUET AWARD
"It was horrible, to be honest. It was really stressful. I've never ever had stress like that before in my life. I mean, my hair was falling out. Waking up in the morning with hair on my pillow."
— Nick Schultz, Domestique Cycling Podcast, on the December 2022 collapse of his contract with team B&B Hotels-KTM, weeks before the season start.
Wonder what The Serge Baguet Award is all about? Check it out here.
💬 QUICK QUOTES
"He was my idol when I was a kid. Today I'm lucky enough to be on his team. His charisma is completely intact — he's still an idol to me." — Luca Mozzato on his team manager Fabian Cancellara, TuttoBiciWeb.
"If you tell her now: no, sorry Lotte, you must work for Lorena again — it could become a vicious cycle for the rest of the year, where she loses confidence in herself again. And we all know: cycling is above all a mental game." — Tom Dumoulin on why Lotte Kopecky, and not Lorena Wiebes, was appointed team leader for Milano-Sanremo Donne, NOS Wielerpodcast.
"If you don't take risk it's not top sport. I'm fortunate to get out of it with road rashes and bruises only… thankful for my team's support and Kim Le Court making sure I was okay! Much appreciated! 💕" — Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney after her crash in the descent of the Cipressa during Milano-Sanremo Donne, Instagram.
"Bruised, not broken." — Michal Kwiatkowski with an update following his heavy crash in Milano-Sanremo, Instagram.
"He left me speechless. Did I expect him to win it like that? Honestly, no. I think this can be called one of his greatest performances." — Eddy Merckx on Tadej Pogačar's performance at Milano-Sanremo, Eurosport.
"This is not my last race, so every race I do from now on will be a celebration." — Nairo Quintana announcing his retirement at the end of this season ahead of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, AS Colombia.
"The crashes you're naming were actually all his own fault. In Strade Bianche he flew out of a corner himself. In last year's Tour, he touched a wheel because he was looking back. And now again a wheel touched. I feel bad for him, but it's also somehow nice to see that on certain levels he is also human, and that small errors like these are not foreign to him either." — Tom Dumoulin on Tadej Pogačar's crashes, NOS Wielerpodcast.
"🐐" — Mathieu van der Poel commenting on Tadej Pogačar's Instagram post after his win in Milano-Sanremo, Instagram.
That's it for today. See you tomorrow 👋
Jay