"Is it wrong of me to ask whether he should start focusing on other races?": Belgian pundit's brutal verdict on Evenepoel after another defeat to Vingegaard

Remco Evenepoel lost again to Jonas Vingegaard at the Volta a Catalunya, and while the crash he suffered earlier in the race offers some mitigation, not everyone is willing to leave it at that. Marc Sergeant, one of Belgian cycling's most respected voices, gave his analysis to Het Nieuwsblad, and he did not hold back.

Sergeant pointed directly to the way Vingegaard bent the race to his will, specifically referencing the third stage where the Dane refused to relay with Evenepoel on the flat, only to effortlessly drop him on the climbs later in the race.

"Did you see how easily Vingegaard rode away uphill?" Sergeant asked rhetorically. "With this, he proves he was right not to cooperate with Evenepoel on Wednesday. Why should Vingegaard ride himself into the ground on the flat?" For Sergeant, this dynamic established the Danish defending Tour de France champion not only as the stronger climber, but as the smarter tactical rider of the two.

Sergeant did acknowledge the circumstances. There was a crash, and he was the first to say we "perhaps should not be too harsh." But that caveat lasted precisely one sentence before he moved on to the harder questions.

Sergeant also suggested that Evenepoel might need to rethink his priorities altogether. With the Tour de France remaining the ultimate goal, the Belgian keeps finding himself up against a wall when the road goes uphill against Vingegaard. "Now that it once again does not seem to be working out for Evenepoel against Vingegaard, is it wrong of me to ask whether he should start focusing on other races?" Sergeant said plainly.

While Evenepoel was preparing for his GC battle in Spain, a Monument was being decided in Italy. For Sergeant, he should have targeted a different race. "In Sanremo last Saturday, he could possibly have meant more than he did here in Catalunya," he concluded.