Le premier gros temps fort de ce Critérium du Dauphiné se déroulait ce mercredi, avec la 4e étape et son contre-la-montre individuel de 17,4 kilomètres entre Charmes-sur-Rhône et Saint-Péray. Sans surprise, c'est le champion du monde et champion olympique de la discipline, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) qui s'est imposé. Auteur d'un chrono supersonique, le Belge a repoussé son dauphin Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) à 21 secondes et Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) à 38". Décevant, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) a lui terminé 4e, concédant 49 secondes. Evenepoel s'empare également du maillot Jaune, en offrant par la même occasion la 1000e victoire de l'histoire à son équipe Soudal Quick-Step.
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SportTranscription
00:00You win a time trial on the Dauphiné, but this was a masterclass. Is it one of your
00:18best time trials today?
00:19Ah, well, it was actually a tough one. It made me think a bit of stage 7 last year in
00:25the Tour, flat running and then a climb, but this one was a bit steeper, a bit harder,
00:30but I think, yeah, my goal was to go as fast as possible till the intermediate, and then
00:37after that just try to get a steady pace till the finish line. I think that the advantage
00:44I had is that it was a lot of headwind in the valleys before and after the climb, so I
00:49used that to really take the benefit of my position and of the power that I can do in
00:59my position and then the climb, I just went as fast as possible. And yeah, I think we
01:04had a perfect pacing strategy, so in the end, like I said yesterday already, I just wanted
01:09to win and then after that we were going to see how it was going to be in terms of DC and
01:13all that stuff. So I think very happy with this victory. Number 1000, as the cap says
01:20of the of the team. So very proud to have done it. I think it's one for Patrick for the
01:27whole past and everything that he did for the team. I think this victory is one for him
01:34and yeah, for all of his career. Looking at the GC, you put over 20 seconds on Jonas
01:43Vingegaard, over 40 seconds on Tadej Pogacar. Are you surprised? Yeah, I think I just saw
01:49the results when I was here on the roller, so I just focused on my own TT. We had a perfect
01:55plan of the pacing strategy and then, like I said, I was going to see after the finish. In
02:01the end, it's quite a big gap on quite a short TT as well, so I think I'm very happy to have
02:07put over one second a kilometre on everybody and for some more than two. So yeah, I'm just
02:13super proud and happy with the feeling I have now. I'm feeling pretty good and it's always
02:19nice to bring home a world of victory. Yeah, because at the beginning of the Dauphiné,
02:23you said that you were in a better shape compared to last year. You really can feel it. Yeah,
02:28of course. I think, especially in terms of weight, I'm already pretty good, much better
02:34than I was last year at this point. So I'm just happy that I've been working super hard
02:38behind the scenes, just focusing on my preparation day by day, week by week, and just trusting the
02:45process, trusting the trainings. And in the end, on the days that I have to perform, I wanted
02:50to go fully for it. And today was already the first one. So hopefully tomorrow we can get through
02:57safely and then focus on the weekend, of course. Yeah, because the next question, Mark is high
03:01mountains. How optimistic are you? Well, I think the climb today was already a little bit
03:09of a test to see how the power was going to be after already, let's say, about eight minutes
03:14of effort and then just going all out to the top. I think I did the climb how I wanted. Also
03:20in terms of climbing in my time trial position, it was all good. So I think I'm feeling happy. I'm
03:26feeling good on the climbs, on the flats and in the descents as well. So I think it's a good
03:32step forward to what we have to expect for the next week and I mean the next days and next month. So
03:39yeah, we just have to keep building and take it day by day. And then for sure there will be a lot
03:44of pressure in the weekend from other teams. But yeah, with this victory, I think I'm confident I
03:49can do well. Plus the yellow jersey on your shoulders for the stages to come. So that means
03:54like more pressure. You have to take control of the race. Yeah, probably. I think maybe tomorrow
04:00can be a bunch sprint. I think the climbs are not as hard as they were yesterday. So maybe some
04:07teams will have confidence to go for the sprint. But yeah, we'll see. Nowadays you never know
04:14the first day was also going to be a sprint. In the end, we went off. So we just have to be
04:18focused, take it day by day and then try to defend it till Sunday evening. Merci. Bravo. Thank
04:25you. You're in yellow. You won the time trial. Was it expected? Actually yellow not, I must say,
04:35because the gap was quite big. So I knew I had to do a perfect TT and hope for some fatigue in the legs
04:41of the guys from the breakout yesterday. So, and also, yeah, Tadej was about like, what was it? 11,
04:4712 seconds ahead of me. So I knew I had to do a very good TT to put him on a distance. Same for
04:53Jonas, of course. So yeah, I think everything worked out pretty well. I think it was pretty tight with
04:58Lipovic. So in the end, yeah, it's stage winning yellow. So nice one for the collection.
05:05So it was the perfect TT. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think I could not have done anything better.
05:11Maybe for some some speed bumps that I went over a bit too too motivated or too enthusiastic,
05:17I must say. But I think, yeah, corner wise, climbing wise, everything was perfect. So yeah,
05:25I think we did a very, a very good job today. A word on that number that you have on your cap,
05:301000 victories for the team. It's a special day today. Yeah, it's a special day. I was actually
05:37not really thinking about it at the beginning of the week, but then when Tim won number 999
05:44and then missed out on number 1000 yesterday, I think, or two days ago, then everybody here
05:50started to say, yeah, it's going to be for us. It's going to be for us. But then you still have
05:54to keep the head cool and focus on what needed to be done is to take the stage win. And then
05:59after, after the win, we could try to start to celebrate it. But I think it's a, it's a victory
06:05that's for Patrick, of course. It's his team since the beginning in 2003. So yeah, I think I
06:11just want to dedicate this victory and already the past few years of my career to him. And I just
06:18want to say that this one is for him. And I think everybody that has had any type of relationship
06:24with the team just has to thank him and has, yeah, has to thank his career or her career to
06:30him. So I think this one is for Patrick.
06:32Yeah, Ojazzy on your shoulders. How confident are you in keeping it until Sunday evening?
06:38I mean, that's going to be a different task. Of course, it's the gaps are not that big, but
06:46in the end, yeah, it's, it's always better to be a little bit ahead than behind. So yeah,
06:51we're just going to do everything we can, day in, day out, try to get through the stage
06:56tomorrow safely. And then day by day, I think, yeah, I need to test myself against Tadej and Jonas
07:03in the high mountains. That's what I've been working on. And I'm just going to do the best
07:09I can. Everything that I have in my legs, I will try to out it on the bike. And then we'll
07:15see where I will be Sunday evening.
07:19.