"He may be an ex-teammate, but you don't do something like that" - Remco Evenepoel fumes at Tim Declercq following Paris-Nice team time-trial
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel was confident pre-stage ahead of the stage 3 team time-trial at Paris-Nice 2024, eyeing up a move into the Maillot Jaune. Sadly for the Belgian, that's not quite how things turned out.
Although things started well with Soudal - Quick-Step quickest at the intermediate time check, a mid-stage rain shower drastically changed things. Post-stage, Evenepoel was also incredibly critical of Tim Declercq, former teammate of the Soudal - Quick-Step leader, now riding for Lidl-Trek. "He stayed ahead of us in a technical corner and didn't move out of the way. A thank you to him. That was really nasty," Evenepoel laments to Sporza. "Tim may have been an ex-teammate, but you don't do something like that. Did he do it on purpose? I hope not, but it is possible."
"We had a twenty second lead over UAE at the intermediate point and you can hardly lose any time on the way down. But it's simple: the rain has fallen and the wind has shifted," Evenepoel's disappointment continues. "There are some technical bends in the last kilometres. If you can take it at full speed, it saves four to five seconds per corner. It didn't go well for us. When you see that we outclass everyone in the first part of the time trial, it proves that our team is super good."
"Rain never plays to your advantage. Then you will lose time in the corners anyway, but not the amount of seconds we are now losing to the winner UAE. So we can't just blame it on the weather," adds sports director, Koen Pilgrim. "I have not yet been able to examine the men's data, so I cannot draw any firm conclusions yet."
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Stupid Remco, always complains whenever he loses. Pathetic!
I like Remco, but he does seem to blame everything and everyone else on his time losses. Shame as it spoils his character really
I like his riding, his performances but I don’t like him, his character or the attention it gets. The media will exploit this and it will go the same way as other sports, the characters and theatrics will become more important than their performances.
Agreed in deed. That is exactly what I was thinking to be fair.
Evenepoel still working hard to develop his reputation ..as the biggest Diva in the peloton. Just ride your bike man!
No, he is the biggest primadonna on peloton. He behaving as if he is better than MDVD, WVA, or Pogacar, and he is still no where near Van Aert, Van der Poel, or Pog does.
Move out of the way, the emperor is coming thru!!! Make Way, Make way, the emperor cometh
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- Must feel like a dream when he's back riding the smooth roads hahaPogboom15-04-2025
- Covid racing was great! You could actually hear the cyclist suffering.
Front24215-04-2025 - I'm pretty sure that it was 2011, when he as on the Saxo Bank team, and the bikes in question are the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL3 and SL4.
santiagobenites15-04-2025 - It looks like either year, they were sponsored by Specialized. Good to know.acem8214-04-2025
- Alcohol is never an excuse, on the contrary, it's an aggravating factor.
maria2024202414-04-2025 - In the race they talk constantly to each other; it seems as if they're teammates. Obviously, when the crucial moment arrive, they attack each other to win, but it's evident the respect, sympathy, and friendship between them.maria2024202414-04-2025
- True, sorryMistermaumau14-04-2025
- Wout Van Aert won a Monument (San Remo, 2020), so he wouldn't be in that article. He might be in an article of riders like Sagan who were truly exceptional and won fewer monuments that expected. As for these two, they've won the last 7 monuments, 10 of the last 12, 15 of the last 20. Merckx and de Vlaeminck weren't that dominant in their era. It really is special the way these two race with such admiration for each other along the way. Rivals, not enemies.RidesHills14-04-2025
- So drunk Belgians will always target MvDP because they are drunk. That can't be right. If drunk Belgians target all other cyclist equally, then it may be reasonable.
KerisVroom14-04-2025 - Nobody cares about this nonsense.Front24214-04-2025