“I thought it was a suicide attempt" - Remco Evenepoel left stunned by Tadej Pogacar's brilliance in Zurich
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel wasn't quite able to complete a double-double with victory in the men's elite road race at the 2024 World Championships in Zurich. Afterwards though, the Belgian had no excuses, instead paying full tribute to new Rainbow Jersey, Tadej Pogacar.
In typically brilliant Pogacar style, the Slovenian attacked with 100km still to go. Despite the herculean effort required from there, Evenepoel and co, simply didn't see the Slovenian again until the finish line. “I honestly didn’t expect it to happen so early," Evenepoel admits in his post-race interview to VTM. “I thought it was a suicide attempt. When Mathieu van der Poel and I looked at each other, we thought it was a ‘crazy move’. But Tadej also had a strong rider in front (Jan Tratnik, ed.). It’s really exceptional that he was able to stay ahead, because we really didn’t sit still. There’s not much to add to that.”
Read also
More than just because of the brilliance of his victory in Zurich, Evenepoel believes Pogacar is a deserved world champion. “This is exceptional,” Evenepoel admitted. “He is the best rider of the year and the only one who deserves to wear the rainbow jersey. It is special and quite unique that he attacked with 100 kilometres to go and that we did not come much closer. But I really could not do more. From lap four or five onwards, it was always going super deep and dying a little every lap. It was really a gruelling World Championship.”
And for Evenepoel himself, the podium eventually proved elusive as the Belgian crossed the line in 5th. “Van der Poel and Toms Skujins are faster than me in such flat finishes. I can hardly beat them then," he concludes. "A medal would have been nice, but that wouldn't have changed my career much. I came here for the rainbow jersey, but that wasn't in the cards. Tadej was simply outstanding .”
Just in
NEW: WorldTour Manager Cyclinguptodate.com (FREE)
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- yes
KerisVroom18-03-2025 - 20 years I guess?Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- Not really, the long version: I tend to agree, also I wouldn’t read too much into MVDPs lack of stage wins compared to years ago, he was never far. MVDP usually knows how and when to peak, people read too much into some races. While back, a big thing was made out of Pidcock beating Wout only for a reversal in the more important next race. Does it make more sense now?Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- "We came to the idea that potentially can be the reason why I’m getting so sick" It is not even confirmed. Is the only cyclist with this issue? I think they are grasping at strawsabstractengineer18-03-2025
- Like Wout maybe, only Roglič just keeps returning to pre-crash levels but maybe with him we never saw his best for all the crashes.Jumpyjohn18-03-2025
- Yep I think he must still be recovering from that crash last year. He has done well to get over that, but I would bet it will take some time yet to get back to peak pre-crash fitness. This latest "off" will not have helped.Cyclingsbestfan17-03-2025
- Doesn't mean anything. In 2023 he was only 3rd at Paris-Nice but then won the toursomeeffingname17-03-2025
- MSR is the race that brings the Spring', proper for better or worse...
leedorney17-03-2025 - Not sure that’s the whole story otherwise babies would be a lit more susceptible to nose bacteria too. Obviously cyclist breathe far more than average humans which should help keep things cleaner, on the other hand if you don’t clean your nose well or use an infected finger … and then why bacteria and not viruses? I would prepare mentally for more testing if this doesn’t solve things. Teeth and gums are the most overlooked entry point for infectious agents. Ears and eyes can also be easily contaminated.Mistermaumau17-03-2025
- Yeah, sorry, some people forget a few facts like him being in a similar age category as Tadej, Jonas, Remco, Tom and that there are plenty of promising younger riders developing too so it’s really quite far-fetched based on current givens.Mistermaumau17-03-2025