The 21-year-old is second overall behind Egan BernalEvenepoel had not raced since Tour of Lombardy accidentSince September 2018, when the young Belgian Remco Evenepoel dominated the junior world championships in Innsbruck in spectacular style, the world of professional cycling has spoken of him in the same breath as the nonpareil Eddy Merckx, whose successor has been awaited for the last 45 years. Evenepoel has expressed frustration at being likened to the legendary “Cannibal”, but on the evidence of the first half of this year’s Giro d’Italia, there is no exaggeration involved.
When the race paused for breath in Umbria on Tuesday, Evenepoel lay second overall, just 14 seconds behind one of the big favourites for overall victory, the Team Ineos leader, Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour de
France. In the first 10 days, the Belgian had barely put a foot wrong; a minor positioning issue close to the first major mountain top finish on Sunday was relatively small beer, and his determination was clearly visible when during Monday’s stage he scrapped for a time bonus with Bernal, gaining a single second.