On to the next stage After Remco Evenpoel's impressive Tour de France in the Alps on Tuesday, the management of Soudal-Quick Step has already turned its attention to the next GC stage, hoping the Belgian star will shine in the same way in Friday's time trial.

Evenepoel finished second on stage 4, 35 seconds behind lone winner Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and 45 seconds ahead of the overall leader.

On Wednesday morning before the fifth stage, Davide Bramati, sport director of Soudal-Quick Step, was upbeat about Evenpoel's chances for a great performance in Friday's flat 25.7 km race. But he also warned that it is first important to get through the next two flat stages without any problems.

Bramati, however, agreed that Friday's time trial bodes well for Evenpoel. His comments echoed the reaction of Evenpoel's teammates after stage 4, with roommate Louis Verweke telling Het Laatste Nieuws: "It's like Lemko when Evenpoel won the Vuelta in 2022."

"For sure we are very happy. The next two days will be easy for the GC riders and then we have the TT. But yesterday was a great day," Bramati told Cycling News before the 177-km flat of stage 5. The 4-km stage runs from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vourgas.

"From the beginning of this year's Tour, everyone knew that the UAE was the team to work with yesterday. Then Pogachar took on Lemko, but I don't think he lost anything. For Sourdal, it is perfect. Mikel Landa, who is seventh overall, will also be important in the coming stages."

Bramati is optimistic that this time trial is a good opportunity for the current specialty world champion to make a dent in his GC rivals.

"I know Lemko likes time trials and he already did a good one [at the Criterium du Dauphiné]. Indeed, the important thing now is to get through these two (flat) stages without incident."

Regarding the battle for the podium, Bramati was rather more circumspect than Evenpole himself, who said, "The closer you get to the podium, the more you have to fight for it."

"I don't know what will happen," Bramati said. Yesterday was the first hard day, so we'll have to see what we can do. But so far I'm very happy with what the team is doing."

"I'm very happy with what the team is doing.

Bramati's upbeat mood was echoed throughout the Sourdal Quickstep camp. He said, "The team is doing what it needs to do, and so is the leader. I'm happy to be able to fight for the podium in Nice. It's nice to have a podium finish in Nice.

In terms of form, Werbeke said that Evenpoel is in ideal shape. He's in good shape. He's in good shape, just like Lemko was when he won the Vuelta. He was very relaxed on this stage. He was a little bit too relaxed.

"I thought it was a really important stage, but he took it lightly. That's a sign that he has confidence in himself. I have confidence in him too."

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