In the head-to-head there was only one man capable of beating Remco Evenepoel. His name is Sonny Colbrelli. The champion of the Bahrain Victorious he got the better of the Belgian ace at the European Championships in Trento.
Remco wasn't very happy about it. He said Colbrelli hadn't shot much.But the Brescian decided to play his cards like this and perhaps he was even forced to. But his success had opened a breach in Remco. A gap that today, however, seems to have become much, much smaller.
So, Sonny, how do you "cook" Evenepoel? You were the last one to beat him...
I was the last one and I remember it well. You have to be in super, super, super condition… if not in life, then in season.
How did you get the better of him?
I played more with cunning than with my legs. Then of course, I had legs and they were needed. If we look at his latest successes, he grinds you down with his pace and that's what he did last Sunday at the World Cup, getting the poor man off his back Lutsenko.
But you did it…
I was good at taking advantage of the moment as a whole. To keep up with him. And I was good because I didn't give him any changes, also because I'm a sprinter, what changes do you ask me on a climb? I suffered a lot that day, a lot... I had the advantage that we had done that climb many times and I knew it and that means a lot. When you're on the hook, but you know it's over after that point, in those 200-300 meters you pull out even what you don't have. If you don't know it, however, you tend to give up sooner. That day I did exorbitant watts on his wheel, mind-blowing stuff. But I actually had a super condition.
But is it really that fast? Yet on TV it doesn't seem so monstrous...
Like so many other things, TV doesn't pay off. You often see us "stuck," but maybe we're going 60 miles an hour. Yes, yes, I can assure you: Remco is monstrous. He manages this constant revving, which isn't really revving because he keeps it up for a long time. In Liège, he made a breakaway. And he made such a violent attack that no one followed him. Add to that the fact that he's strong on climbs and is also a time trialist, and he manages to maintain that pace. I've seen few like him.
We too!
It's not a Contador, a Nibali who are making a splash. Remco might give you a flash of brilliance, but then he holds it. It doesn't go down and that's where it destroys you, even mentally.
So you have to play it smart like you did?
We must never lose sight of it., even if you are far from the finish line. And when it starts you mustn't even give it two meters. Never. And it's not easy because he also has a great sprint, as, I repeat, we saw in Liège. At the World Championship, when I saw him up there with that little group, I immediately thought: "This is a race for second place." Unless Lutsenko had kept him, because... there's also the one that takes you to the finish lineBut even from this point of view Evenepoel has changed a lot.
Why? What do you mean?
Now he plays his cards well. It's easier to manage. It's less emotional. He's more cold-blooded.
So one of the secrets is not to give him substitutions?
If anything, just at some strategic moment. But then if someone is truly stronger, there's little you can do and it's also difficult to sub him. That day in Trento he destroyed me and I don't even know how I managed to keep him. I always say: the hardest race was not the Roubaix, but the European Championships. At that point, everyone plays their cards. And one of the tricks is to try to make him draw more.
Is there any point where Remco is vulnerable? For example, on the descent?
Years ago, yes, you could attack it on the downhill, but even in this aspect it has improved. After his famous crash at the Lombardia, he's definitely been working on it. It was in Trento last year that we decided to attack him on the descent. Matteo Trentin he did it at the death but in the end he was in front and he was even happy with it.
No weak points then?
Taking the World Cup as a starting point, I think that if there had been a Route or Bettiol in Lutsenko's place they would not have split up. At least Lutsenko this year. I know him very well, he's a friend, and I know he's going faster. He wouldn't have fallen off on a climb like that. I say that they wouldn't have come off because it was a two-minute effort and in that case you bring out everything. Then, guys, I don't know the wattages, I haven't heard Lutsenko... but I believe that the Alexey of his best times would not have dropped away and would have won the world championship in sprint.
So there is a weak point: the sprint…
Well, at least there! He's strong on the climbs, he's strong in the time trials... Remco himself certainly knows that to be sure of winning he has to arrive alone, because he's not great at sprinting. You know, after 260 kilometers, a lot changes. Let's remember Trentin's World Championship: we already felt it was in our grasp, and instead...
And “turning the tables”, looking at it from Evenepoel’s point of view: maybe reliving a situation similar to the one with you, would he have made a fuss?
Maybe. Maybe he learned from last year's mistake, because let's be honest, I won, but he also made a mistake. If Remco had stopped and started sprinting after 3 or 4 lunges, I would have stayed there. Because yes, I can control the revs well, but I do so regularly. If Remco had found himself in the same situation with me at the World Championships as he did last year, I think he would have played it smart this time.
