LIEGE (BELGIUM) – Evenepoel, the notable absentee: what is Remco up to? The cycling world has been waiting for Pogacar's duel at Doyenne for two years., but due to as many injuries, it hasn't been possible yet. First one, then the other. Two is also the number of years that separates them: the Slovenian was born in 1998, the Belgian is 2000. And while the 110th Liège race is about to begin, with the threat of snow in the Ardennes and Pogacar favored among a pack of very respectable predators, the Belgian of the Soudal-Quick Step He participated in his team's podcast: The Wolfpack Howl.
The analysis of the fall
Evenepoel was the first to fall on the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. By scrolling through the video of the most catastrophic tumble in recent memory, from which fortunately everyone escaped alive, It is suspected that it was the Belgian who triggered the the maxi fallHe went straight, missing the turn. Tesfatsion, right behind, got scared and fell too.
“If you look carefully at the movement of my bike,” he said, you can clearly see that I took the wrong trajectoryI ended up in the roughest part of the curve and lost control. I had no grip left and braked for fear of going off the curve. Then I went all the way to the left and jumped that gully in the embankment. It all happened so quickly. A moment later I was already standing and holding my shoulder.In slow motion it looks easy to maintain control, but from my perspective it wasn't quite like that. It was also a dangerous descent, because every now and then I looked at the speed on my bike's computer and it showed 80 to 81 kilometers per hour».
Recovery on the reels
The fall caused him clavicle fracture and of the shoulder blade and for this reason excluded from the challenges of the Ardennes And from this blessed Liège, which he had also been waiting for a year, having won the two previous editions. With the Tour and then the Olympics in mind, at a certain point the more immediate races took a back seat.
“My body is gradually recovering,” he said during the podcast on Friday, “and every day I feel less pain. I suffered a lot, especially the first few days after the fallSince the beginning of the week, however, I've been able to sleep peacefully and pain-free again. I've also started doing some physical therapy exercises to keep my muscles working. It is not yet possible to go out by bike, also due to the bad weather, but from Monday I can train on the rollers again."
Mid-season break
Evenepoel then told of having spoken briefly with Roglic in the hospital in Vitoria, as they were close, and having sent a message to Vingegaard insteadHaving already experienced a much more dramatic fall at the 2020 Giro di Lombardia, the Belgian joked about having underestimated his broken collarbone. So, he's enjoying family life and has taken the opportunity to champion the Tous a Bord project (opening photo). The association works in Paralympic sports and is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a 400-kilometer Brussels-Paris race for disabled athletes.
«Before breaking it – he said – I had always been a little too optimistic about a broken collarbone, but not anymore. It's not exactly the easiest injury for a cyclist and I hope my colleagues don't have to experience the same thing.It's not my first serious injury, and that first experience taught me not to rush recovery. I know I have to face the re-education phase calmly., so I'm pretty relaxed and trying to enjoy this mid-season break. Last Wednesday, I celebrated the end of Ramadan with Oumi and also watched a lot of football. I slept a lot, played minigolf and watched cycling on TV.. I'm not the type to not watch the races if I can't take part in them."
When asked which races were the most painful to watch, Remco immediately pointed the finger at theAmstel Gold Race, who would have run with some ambition. «Certainly not the Fleche Wallonne – he smiled – given what happened. Who knows what he will feel in a few hours watching his rivals compete on his streets…
