Yesterday he was crowned time trial world championA week ago in Glasgow he was the notable absentee among the big names. As the reigning champion had to bow to the excessive power that Mathieu van der Poel He proved it on the infernal Scottish circuit. And it's precisely on those corners that Remco Evenepoel wasn't as sharp and brilliant as he usually is when he has a goal in mind.
Le statements from the day before of his father and of Lefevere, a World Cup that wasn't quite his style, a bad day, in short, there are many considerations that can be made a week later. To clarify and better understand the possible causes of his failure to reconfirm, we relied on expert and technical opinion by Michele Bartoli.
There's a striking photo (used in the opening) of Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pedersen, and Pogacar ready to battle for the world championship. They're all very powerful riders, "designed" for that course, except for Pogacar... And where was Remco?
You can put Tadej wherever you want, he's strong. Apart from that, yes, let's say he's a bit the full-fledged photograph of that dayRemco wasn't there.
Let's start with your position during the race. Did being on the sidelines on such a technical course have an impact?
In my opinion, this is a fair analysis. In other matches like Liège, he was good at filing, attacking, and staying ahead. Liège was at the start of the season and he was 100% fit. Probably last Sunday his less than optimal form may have also had an influenceIt is clear, when one its strong point is not its location, if he lacks a bit of energy, he loses lucidity and loses everything. In a World Cup like this it's clear that he's left out. In my opinion, however, it's a sum of thingsIf he had been on a good day, this "problem" of his would not have had an impact. Because his condition would have emerged and he would have remained in the group with the leaders. However, it is clear that his... poor positioning skills.
Could another clue be Narvaez's crash that broke up the group and left him behind?
He would have been cut off anyway. You could see he even tried to attack once or twice, but it wasn't as sharp as usualThey were stretches at times when the group slowed down. It wasn't explosive.
Three attempts where he tried and they shut him down immediately. Aside from the fact that he was under special observation because he was the reigning champion, didn't you see a conviction, a brilliance worthy of a world championship?
No, I don't think he was having a good day. Aside from the route, because that also had an impact, I don't think he was in great condition that day.
You mentioned the route. It wasn't for Remco, in your opinion?
He is a rider totally unsuited to a course like that. But that doesn't mean he can't win if he finds himself on a similar course tomorrow, because phenomenal riders can do anything. Then, especially when the road started to get wet, it was even less in his wheelhouse. It's known that although he's improved a lot, His weak point has always been his driving ability.He started racing when he was quite old, so if you start as a kid, you acquire a certain level of sensitivity on the medium, but in his case, a certain level of difficulty will always remain.
Besides the technical side, wasn't it also up to you from a physical point of view?
From the point of view of muscular effort it was not bad at all for him. Because when there is one relaunch after another, Evenepoel has shown himself to be strong. However, it was precisely the technical difficulty in riding the bike that penalised him a lot in my opinion.I honestly don't think the harshness or uniqueness of the route had a negative impact on him. It can be summed up as a problem of planimetry rather than altimetry.
Instead, detach yourself from the technical side and focus on motivation. He showed some signs of nervousness before the start because of what his father and Lefevere said. Do you think that might have had an impact too?
I think so, a little bit. I've never seen a rider win a world championship if he's not truly in top form in every way. It's normal that this internal war affects you a little.Even if you don't want to think about it, it still has an impact.
We'd also seen him get nervous at certain points at the Giro, suffering from these moments. Is this something he needs to work on?
I think so, yes, he needs to work on it. But it's not such a bad thing either; in fact, it could be very useful for the classics. He's an adrenaline junkie; we saw that yesterday in the time trial. He sometimes seems grumpy with his opponents, but in the right way. Also because you shouldn't be too delicate in these dynamics. I like tough people like him. But for the Grand Tours this penalizes you because you become too tense and you also waste mental energy. When you're always there with tension at the edge of your skin, you recover even less. He needs to change the system, but in my opinion he won't, because that's how you're born. He shows that the champion, the champion, wins even those races that aren't exactly his style. He's already won a Vuelta and If he can balance these sides of his character, he will be able to improve a lot further.
Accustomed to dominating, he had a bad day and let himself sink. However, he confirmed his form in the time trial he won yesterday. How do you see him heading into the end of the season?
Yes, the shape is definitely there and he showed it. For the season finale It also depends on how the team situation is resolved. If the possible change makes him happy, he will also have greater incentives. If, however, for some reason, he is forced to follow a path due to corporate interests, orders that do not satisfy him, it is clear that it could also have an impact on next year. This is why I think it would be in everyone's interest to find a solution where Remco is also more at ease.
