The 22-year-old took second place on the sixth stage over 181.2 kilometres from Bilbao to Ascensión al Pico Jano. The 22-year-old took second place behind the Australian stage winner Jay Vine in the dense fog on the sixth stage up San Miguel de Aguayo, taking 1:12 minutes off the day's fifth-placed rider Roglic.
Evenepoel comments
Evenepoel is now 21 seconds ahead of the previous leader Rudy Molard from France in the overall standings. This is the Belgian's first lead in a grand tour. "I am proud. A big dream has come true. This is one of the best things I've ever done," said Evenepoel. Roglic, who recently won the Tour of Spain three times in a row, is 1:01 minutes back in fourth place. The German professional cyclist Nikias Arndt, who had finished third overall the day before, played no part this time and lost a lot of time.
The Vuelta continues on Friday with the seventh stage over 190 kilometres from Camargo to Cistierna. No major changes are expected in the overall standings.
Copyright 2022, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
