Remco-Evenepoel acknowledged the overall lead at the Critérium du Dauphiné after struggling with his last climb to Le Collet d'Allevard in Stage 6, but insisted his performance, with more than three weeks left until the Tour de France, was not a cause for panic.

The Belgians were distanced under pressure from Bora Hansgrohe, upstream of the hose category climb, which Primoš Logrish was powered to win. He also rose slightly in the final, but in Slovenia he had to settle on stage 42 seconds down. He fell to the 2nd overall, 19 seconds later Roglić.

"In the valley towards the last climb, I really felt my legs were getting heavier, so I certainly knew it was hard to follow the best," Evenepoel then told CyclingPro. "Then, after 4-5 km on the climb, on the radio, I said that I was not feeling fresh anymore."

Even Paul could not follow when Roglich built a bridge to a movement that already featured Lieutenant Bora Hansgrohe Alexander Vlasov. Soudal-QuickStep rider was joined by his teammate Mikel Landa as he fought to limit his losses before he started his own acceleration in the last kilometer.

"I had to look for my own rhythm," Evenepoel said. "I told Mikel he could go for his chance, but then he came back very quickly so he made me towards the last kilometer but I think this is what we were expecting – that I'm not at my best yet and still need a lot of time to improve.

The Dauphine indicated that Evenepoel had returned to the competition after breaking his shoulder in a major crash in the Italia Basque Country, where Logric and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard were also involved.

Evenepoel began Dauphine adamant that his focus was squarely on building form for his Tour de France debut in May, but his emphatic victory in the time trial to Neulise on Wednesday put him in a yellow jersey with a half-lead over Rogic.

The 24-year-old endured the horrors on Thursday, when he was among many toppled persons in a massive crash that caused Stage 5 neutralization in St. Priest. He fell to his head and shoulders, but still Paul downplayed the impact of that crash on his performance here.

"It's just a little injury, a little bruise, but nothing crazy. I'm not going to blame the shoulder for today's time loss," Evenepoel smiled. "I think it's life, it's part of my way back to my top level, it's obviously not there yet. We still have a lot of time and no reason to panic.

Instead, Evenepoel makes a bright sound and when building towards the Grand Department store in Florence on 6/29, his form remains in Crescendo and

"Two weeks ago in the Sierra Nevada, we were not able to press enough of the numbers that we made today, so we were not able to press enough." We are certainly in a good way," Evenepoel said. "In the end, for me, even though I've lost time, it's a positive day. It is not the most important thing that must be taken from today.

Evenepoel expanded that idea when he spoke to Het Nieuwsblad after the stage.

"Am I shocked" No, not at all," he said of his loss of time. "I know this and have been saying this for a week, but obviously it hasn't gone through: I'm not here to win the Dauphine, but rather improve

"Now it's clear that I'm still not good enough to follow the best. I'm here to test my limits. It's working well, but obviously there's still something to do. I really struggled with the last kilo, but that's why I'm here: to raise my level and make the most of it completely without getting tired.

Despite the setback, Evenepoel continues to contend for an overall victory at the Dauphine, even as Rogic's display on Friday showed he was a favorite at the 1600 summit finish at Samoan and the remaining 2 at the Plateau de Guglière.

"It will be very hard to beat Primocci," Evenepoel said. "But we just fight and see where the ship ends on Sunday. Calm down."