Remco Evenepoel is not here to hide in the wheels. The Belgian superstar promised he would take his chances on the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya 2026. He backed up those words with a massive ride. He came agonizingly close to taking the first leader's jersey of the race.

It took a brutal photo finish to deny him the win. The final kilometer in Sant Feliu de Guixols kicked violently uphill. Tom Pidcock launched a massive early sprint from 300 meters out. Evenepoel reacted instantly and powered his way to the front. It looked like the Belgian had the victory secured.

But INEOS Grenadiers rider Dorian Godon managed to throw his bike at the line at the exact right millisecond. The Frenchman barely edged out Evenepoel to take the stage. Pidcock held on for third place.

The first stage featured roughly 2,000 meters of climbing. The peloton tackled the Alt de Romanya and the Alt de Sant Hilari early in the day. An escapee built a four minute lead. That gap hovered around a minute and a half as they entered the final 25 kilometers.

Then the big teams turned the screws. The pace skyrocketed.

The overall classification contenders stayed incredibly sharp during the chaotic finale. Jonas Vingegaard and Evenepoel hovered right at the front of the thinned out pack. UAE Team Emirates pushed the pace hard for Joao Almeida.

Vingegaard, Dani Martinez, and Brandon McNulty all positioned themselves perfectly for the uphill drag. But Evenepoel was the only GC favorite who had the pure explosive power to fight for the actual stage win.

He missed out by a tire tread today. But Remco just sent a massive warning shot to the rest of the field.