The bar has at all times been set just a little bit greater for Remco Evenepoel.
Early success introduced him acclaim, however it additionally created extra expectation. He might win as a lot as he needed, it appeared, however by no means sufficient to show himself.
Even when Evenepoel received the Vuelta a España two years in the past, the thesis continued in some quarters that he wasn’t actually a Grand Tour rider in any respect. The query lingered after a 2023 season the place COVID-19 minimize brief his Giro d’Italia and a ‘jour sans’ ruined his Vuelta defence. It even endured so far as his Tour de France debut this summer season.
After reaching Nice in third place total, Evenepoel has absolutely allayed those that doubt his capacity.
Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had been, by Evenepoel’s personal admission, working on one other degree right here however the Belgian was full worth for his podium place, navigating the three weeks with none apparent disaster and coming dwelling with a buffer of just about ten minutes on fourth place.
Without the boys he known as “the 2 huge boys,” this may have been a Tour debut for the ages.
“Honestly, this podium is likely one of the highest achievements of my profession,” Evenepoel stated in his ultimate Tour de France press convention on the Nice Palais des Expositions late on Sunday night.
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“I believe turning into world champion continues to be one other degree, however finishing my first Tour de France and being third behind the 2 greatest riders on the planet is a large accomplishment.”
Evenepoel shed tears on crossing the end line on the finish of the ultimate time trial because the solar set on Sunday. The overflow of emotion, he defined, stemmed partly from ideas of his crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April however largely from a way of aid, as if his profitable debut Tour had lifted a burden of types.
“Everybody is at all times doubting me, and I believe from at present on, that ought to be completed,” Evenepoel stated with delight.
“I’ve taken a step ahead, ending third behind one of the best two riders, with an enormous hole behind me, and being on a really constant degree.
“I used to be in a rush to get in form, and after Dauphiné there have been once more questions on whether or not we knew what we had been doing, so it was a little bit of every thing. This was my first Tour, and there was a whole lot of stress from my dwelling nation.
“I believe generally individuals don’t realise how a lot stress can weigh on the shoulders, with detrimental feedback already ranging from Paris-Nice, the place second place was not adequate. So I believe that’s the place the feelings and the tears got here from.”
Next objective: Olympic gold
Evenepoel’s profitable debut Tour confirmed his aptitude for three-week racing however it additionally starkly illustrated the bottom he must make up if he’s to win the yellow jersey sooner or later.
Time, in fact, is on his facet. Evenepoel received the white jersey of greatest younger rider right here, and he’s eligible once more subsequent 12 months.
“I believe being third in my first Tour de France is already fairly good. That reveals that the bottom is there to perhaps change into as soon as a Tour de France winner, however for certain the hole continues to be huge,” Evenepoel stated.
“So, what do I would like? First of all, I have to work on my capacities, by doing extra particular climbing coaching, most likely. Maybe I would like to depart the TT work apart just a little and concentrate on longer climbs, greater efforts, extra particular coaching at altitude.
“I believe that is all data that we will use a bit with the workforce, which isn’t a foul remark in direction of my workforce, it’s only a sensible factor. UAE, Visma, Ineos, all these groups, have way more expertise of using Grand Tours, but when this is step one, then it’s already a great one. I believe I simply have to change into stronger.”
From an athletic standpoint, Evenepoel indicated that his podium end on the Tour was a loftier achievement than his victory on the Vuelta. On stage 15, as an example, Evenepoel climbed Plateau de Beille quicker than Marco Pantani did in 1998, however he nonetheless reached the summit nearly three minutes down on Pogačar.
“The numbers I did now had been means greater than those within the Vuelta I received, so which means the extent is simply greater on the Tour,” Evenepoel stated.
“Maybe this podium weighs on my future plans about turning into a pure GC rider. It means extra to me than successful a Vuelta.”
Those ideas can wait, even when Soudal-QuickStep supervisor Patrick Lefevere smilingly famous in Nice that Evenepoel’s podium end right here had come “a 12 months forward of schedule.”
Over the following fortnight, Evenepoel has the extra urgent objective of making an attempt to win Olympic gold in Paris. He traces up because the favorite for the time trial on Saturday, whereas Eddy Merckx himself reckons him to be the person to beat within the highway too.
With these appointments in thoughts, Evenepoel took a comparatively conservative method to the descents in Sunday’s ultimate time trial to Nice, the place he positioned third behind Pogačar and Vingegaard.
“I knew third total was fairly protected and second was unreachable, so why danger my life on fairly harmful roads?” he stated.
“I nonetheless have fairly some huge races developing.”
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