In professional cycling, the winner takes it all, and the loser just has to deal with the sting of defeat and face the questions.

Remco Evenpole (Quick-Step Alphavinil) is a born winner and often enjoys success, but this year he faced Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) for the first time in Tirreno-Adriatico.

While Pogachar was celebrated on the podium after stage 4, Evenepoel, who lost the white jersey of the best young rider to his young rival, had to explain what happened on the hilly stage in the Abruzzo hills and the three climbs to the finish in Belante.

He may have tried to isolate Pogachar with the help of Julien Alaphilippe on the first climb with 40 km to go. But the Tour de France winner smelled a trap and escaped with 600 meters to go in the stage, taking the stage win and the leader's jersey.

Evenpoel barely managed to finish in fourth place, 20 meters and 2 seconds behind his rival; thanks to a 10-second time bonus, Pogachar has overtaken Evenpoel in the overall and now leads by 9 seconds.

After recovering from the effort, Evenpoel tried to shake off the small crowd of journalists waiting across the finish line to hear his thoughts, but accepted to speak briefly in Dutch.

"I regret nothing," he said, insisting that he was happy with his run.

"I tried to race hard with the team, but the wind was strong on the downhill. That didn't help my speed, but I'm glad I tried."

Regarding his attack with Pogachar, he said, "If we had worked together better, we could have gotten away. Anyway, that's how the race went. The last climb was really hard and I think Pogachar had everything under control.

"Against a rider like him, I'm a little short on punch. I was in sixth or seventh place in the last few hundred meters. I had to close some gaps, but soon I knew the best bird had flown."

Evenepoel had carefully hedged his bets before and during the Tirreno-Adriatico against Pogachar.

He recognizes, as does everyone in the peloton, that Pogachar, who peaked at the UAE Tour, is on another level. The Tour de France winner has conquered Strade Bianche and is also in control of the Tirreno-Adriatico.

"I'm still second in the ranking and I have everything under control," Evenpoel tried to remain optimistic.

"I came here for the podium. I think the coming stages will suit me. It was a good first test.