Belgian coach on how Van Aert, Evenepoel and co can make things difficult for Pogacar in Rwanda: "That is something that everyone has to think about"

Ahead of the 2025 Cycling World Championships in Rwanda, there seems to be one outstanding contender for the Rainbow Jersey, Tadej Pogacar. Of all the teams capable of challenging the Slovenian though, it's arguably Belgium who are best placed.

"Today you still have one other factor: Pogacar. How can we make it as difficult as possible for him?" questions Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels openly in conversation with Het Nieuwsblad. "That is a question that concerns me more than the course issue. That is something that everyone has to think about.”

As for leading contenders, Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel are the standout potential challengers for Belgium. Firstly, Van Aert. “At Team Visma | Lease a Bike he sometimes does the work of a domestique, but with the national team Wout always has to aspire to leadership or shadow leadership. He will have to decide for himself whether he wants to do the Worlds. After my reconnaissance in Rwanda I will brief him and then it is up to him,” says Pauwels. “To be honest, I think there is hardly a course that Wout cannot handle. If you see that someone like Van der Poel reached the podium on a difficult course in Zurich, then Wout could have done the same."

And in Evenepoel, Pauwels has a former world road race champion to call on. "Evenepoel and Van Aert themselves also realize that they can function in a complementary way," the national coach adds. "Thanks to Remco’s presence, Wout can race a bit more from a defensive position. Not all the pressure is on one person. Of course, you can’t go to a race with five leaders, because that makes it very difficult to determine a tactic.”

There is also the potential of Thibau Nys to consider as a wildcard, although Pauwels admits those discussions are yet to take place. “I had some questions for someone like him,” the selector said. “What does he want himself? How does he see it with a view to the next cyclocross season? What is possible for the team? I don't have to have a conclusive answer to that today, but they should start thinking about it. Then I can also start my puzzle.”