"I made great progress again at the highest level" - Remco Evenepoel reflects on impressive 2024 campaign
Cycling
Aside from the superhuman Tadej Pogacar, there is case to be made that Remco Evenepoel had the best season of anyone in the peloton in 2024. Taking double Olympic gold, another World Championships time trial and cracking the podium on his Tour de France debut, the Belgian has seemingly silenced a number of his doubters this season.
"I made great progress again at the highest level," the Soudal - Quick-Step leader reflects in conversation with HLN. "Don't forget that I was out of action for three weeks after my crash in the Itzulia Basque Country. In a period when I would normally be at my best. The Ardennes classics were big goals. Okay, Tadej Pogacar rode in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But I would have participated for the win anyway. Just like in the Basque Country itself."
Due to his crash in the Basque Country and a subsequently quiet return to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine, not many thought Evenepoel could mix it up at the Tour de France against both Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard in the way he did. Earlier in the year however, the Belgian had already shown some good form on French soil, finishing 2nd overall at Paris-Nice. "Paris-Nice is a race I absolutely want to go to again. I was very stable that spring, I improved steadily. But because of the rehabilitation of my collarbone and shoulder blade fractures, I automatically ran out of time for the Tour," he assesses. "I had to go from zero to top in two months. My form was worse in May than at the end of the winter break."
As mentioned though, in the Tour de France, Evenepoel put in arguably one of the most impressive performances of his career, keeping pace with Pogacar and Vingegaard for much of the three weeks, eventually finishing a comfortable 3rd. "I more or less knew what level Pogacar would reach, which made it easier to formulate a realistic ambition. From the moment that he and Vingegaard pushed hard uphill, I had to find my own pace in order not to explode. That way I got the most out of it," he analyses, noting there is still room to improve. "Above all, we have to work on the approach and my data on those final climbs. And possibly adjust certain training methods, so that I can last longer and lose less time in the coming years."
"I have made my dreams and goals clear from the start: here, in this team, I want to win classic Monuments and the three Grand Tours and become world champion," he concludes. "I have already achieved quite a lot of that. But there is still more to come. As for the Tour: not a simple mission. Very labour-intensive. Only achievable in the right, fine-tuned structure."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
- I also wanne beat Pogacar in the tour but it aint gonne happen. Jonas unfortunately getting dropped by del toro and seixas several times this TDF and jonas team is very weak and joinas on way down, it aint happening thats clear. its also clear it only happened cause Pogacar was hurt and had a broken wrist that time everytime both full strenght its not close we just have to be honest about it :/miguel07-11-2026
- They do this but literally let cars on courses to run over riders.mij07-11-2026
- Looking at that photo she appears to be several feet from her. I’m not sure how that impeded brands sprint.mij07-11-2026
- Lucky to not get disqualified
leedorney07-11-2026
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Finishing an incredible season with my first podium here at Il Lombardia.🥈🇮🇹🔥 GRATEFUL, the only right word to describe my feelings. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together. Thanks to the team, my wife and family, the fans, everyone for the incredible support.🐺💙 My
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