- It was tough, but I have learned to keep calm.
It is at the end of the races that it is decided.
Both I and Enric went for the victory and I could give what I had, says Evenepoel, who did not claim the overall victory in advance.
- There is a tough stage left and the others will surely attack me, Evenepoel tells Eurosport as he steps down on the test bike.
Dutchman Robert Gesink had broken away and looked set for victory in Alto de Piornal 192km after the start in Trujillo.
Led by Enric Mas, Evenepoel caught up with 300 meters to go.
The 22-year-old Belgian showed who was the strongest and won the stage clearly.
Before the three final stages, Evenepoel is now 2.07 ahead of Mas in the summary.
The stage race finishes in Madrid on Sunday.
Could be the first Belgian to win since the 1970s
Long seen as a super talent, he is now on course to deliver his biggest victory to date in his career and give Belgium its first win in one of Europe's big three cycling tours since the 1970s.
Evenepoel had actually intended to become a football star.
He played in both Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven and made nine boys' internationals for Belgium as a 15- and 16-year-old, TT states.
Evenepoel was close to death in a downhill in the Lombardy Tour in August 2020, flying ten meters in a curve, breaking his pelvis and puncturing a lung.
The unlucky crustaceans shouted that the career was already over.