“In 2020 I was in top form too, then suddenly it was over” - Remco Evenepoel sees haunting Pogacar parallel as biggest rival’s crash blows Worlds wide open

Remco Evenepoel knows better than most how quickly a season at the very highest level can disappear. Six years after his own breakthrough campaign was ended by a terrifying crash at Il Lombardia, the Belgian has recognised an uncomfortable parallel in Tadej Pogacar’s season-ending accident at the Vuelta a Espana.

Pogacar will miss the World Championships in Montreal after suffering serious injuries in his Vuelta crash, ending his bid for a third successive elite men’s road race rainbow jersey. Evenepoel, runner-up to the Slovenian in Kigali last year, immediately recognised circumstances he had experienced himself.

“I think it is extremely unfortunate for him. But sadly, it is part of the sport. And it shows that it can happen to even the very best. At any moment, your season can suddenly be over,” Evenepoel told HLN. “You do not have to tell me what that feels like. Crashes, abandonments, rehabilitation, inactivity... I have had more than enough experience of all of that myself in the past.”

“In 2020 I was in top form too, then suddenly it was over,” he continued, recalling the Il Lombardia crash that brought an abrupt end to what had been an extraordinary season.

Evenepoel had won all four stage races he started that year, taking overall victories at the Vuelta a San Juan, Volta ao Algarve, Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de Pologne.

At Il Lombardia, however, he went over the side of a bridge on the descent of the Muro di Sormano and suffered a fractured pelvis and lung contusion.

The injuries ended his season and ruled him out of the World Championships in Imola. “I missed the World Championships in Imola and the field was wide open for other riders,” Evenepoel said. “That is exactly what has now happened to Tadej.”

Evenepoel did contact Pogacar after the crash, although his own experiences with serious injuries shaped when he chose to do it.

“Yes. But not immediately. Because, unfortunately from my own experience, I know it is not very pleasant to receive 100,000 messages at a moment like that,” he explained. “I waited until the final diagnosis was known and, above all, until I knew that he was relatively okay, especially with his head. It works the other way around too, by the way. Tadej has wished me a ‘speedy recovery’ a few times as well.”

The two have increasingly found themselves competing for cycling’s biggest prizes. Pogacar finished ahead of Evenepoel at both the 2025 World Championships and 2026 Tour de France, where the Belgian took second overall, while their battles have extended across stage races, Classics and championships.

Away from competition, Evenepoel says their relationship is markedly different. “In races, obviously we are rivals, but away from racing we get on well. And there is a great deal of mutual respect,” he said. “You would not wish such a bad crash on anyone. Whether that is the best rider in the world or someone who has never won a race: it makes no difference.”

Pogacar’s absence removes the rider who has controlled the past two World Championships road races and had again been expected to provide the central reference point in Montreal.

Evenepoel expects the racing to change considerably. “Absolutely. It will have a major influence on the race scenarios. So it will be a matter of taking the opportunities that present themselves.”

Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels said when announcing his squad that Pogacar’s withdrawal would completely alter Belgium’s tactics. Evenepoel agreed, although he joked that Pauwels had perhaps revealed rather more than he would have himself.

“Mm, yes... Serge was rather open about that. Personally, I would not go into so much detail about it and would keep that more behind closed doors. But anyway,” Evenepoel said. “They are things we will go into more deeply internally in two weeks’ time. The fact is that with Tadej there, everyone races more defensively and simply tries to follow. Now we will have to control the race ourselves a bit more. That will not be easy or straightforward. New, crystal-clear tactics will have to be drawn up.”

Belgium will head to Montreal with Evenepoel and Wout van Aert sharing leadership, giving Pauwels two established medal contenders on a course containing repeated four-to-five-minute climbing efforts around Mount Royal.

Evenepoel believes the consequences of Pogacar’s absence could extend well beyond Belgian tactics. “I think many riders might now have a bit of a ‘now or never’ mentality,” he said. “Tadej is someone who has dominated the championships enormously over the past few years and, in that sense, the current situation creates opportunities.”

Those opportunities also extend to the European Championships, where Evenepoel is chasing the one championship title he says remains missing from his personal “Grand Slam”.

“In my case, I also immediately think of the European road race, the only title in the ‘Grand Slam’ that I am still missing. On a course in his own Slovenia, Tadej would have been very motivated to win. The fact that he will not be there now gives me opportunities.”

Before that comes Montreal. Evenepoel enters the elite men’s road race as the 2022 world champion and 2025 silver medallist, while Pogacar’s two-year reign in the rainbow jersey will end without the Slovenian being able to defend it on September 27.