"It’s the first time we’ve seen him go toe-to-toe with the best" - Remco Evenepoel's victory lights fire in Belgian fans' hearts
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel’s spectacular victory on stage 15 of the 2026 Tour de France has sparked intense debate over whether Tadej Pogacar truly contested the final sprint or let the Belgian take the win. A theory Roxane Knetemann flatly rejects.
The former Dutch rider believes the doubts after the finale come from overthinking the race and defends the merit of the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider, who won at high altitude after matching the best climbers’ pace.
On the In de Waaier podcast, journalists Daniël Dwarswaard and Niek Goedvolk floated the idea that Pogacar might not have emptied the tank in the sprint, having worked all day for teammate Isaac del Toro.
Knetemann, however, completely dismissed that reading. “I think that’s a typically Dutch mindset. We’re watching a great finale and a worthy winner fighting for what he deserves. Because we’re not used to seeing Pogacar beaten, we quickly assume he let the win slip.”
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The Dutchwoman did concede she expected a more aggressive approach from UAE Team Emirates - XRG on the final climb.
“I was a bit disappointed that UAE didn’t launch an attack. Del Toro accelerated and Evenepoel responded. I thought Pogacar would go then, but he didn’t.”
Even so, she finds it excessive to suggest the Slovenian gifted the victory. “Maybe he didn’t want to win at all costs, but I think that’s splitting hairs. We’ve said it many times: Pogacar doesn’t hold grudges.”
Remco Evenepoel celebrates stage 15 of the Tour de France 2026.
Evenepoel’s win ended a long run of Pogačar dominance in the Tour’s big mountain stages, as the Slovenian had not lost a summit finish of this type since Le Lioran 2024.
Knetemann admits it’s impossible to know whether the Tour leader could have won the sprint.
“I wonder that too. What would be the difference between gifting the win to Evenepoel now and not doing so for another rider?”
Some analysts suggested Pogacar might have eased for various reasons, such as Jonas Vingegaard’s earlier crash or a wish to keep good relations with Evenepoel, though none of these hypotheses has been confirmed.
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Beyond the sprint debate, Knetemann highlighted the Olympic champion’s huge performance on Plateau de Solaison. “It’s the first time we’ve seen him go toe-to-toe with the peloton’s best riders.”
The analyst recalled that in previous big mountain days Evenepoel had always lost a few metres before clawing back ground thanks to his pacing.
This time, however, the Belgian stayed with the main favourites from the outset. “He doesn’t flinch! This is the best Evenepoel we’ve seen at this Tour. How unusual!”
Knetemann also ruled out the final climb’s profile as the sole explanation for the Belgian’s improvement. “There really isn’t an explanation. He said he’d done twenty training blocks on that climb, but we also know all these riders recon the course thoroughly.”
For the Dutchwoman, the real difference was how Evenepoel looked on the bike. “I’d never seen the Evenepoel we saw today, glued to Pogacar’s wheel.”
His display strengthens the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader’s ambitions for the Tour’s third week, where he will aim to cement his place among the GC elite and prove he can go head-to-head with the sport’s dominant figures.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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santiagobenites01-11-2026 - What a great race! Couldn't look away. Can't wait for the euros
Rafionain-Glas01-11-2026 - I think other competitors also had great Tours, so it wasn't that Ferrand-Prévot necessarily failed in some way - it's more likely that the other top riders lifted their game and maybe also a bit of luck with no crashes, etc. It's the Tour de France after all. It's not meant to be easy to defend your title (the few exceptions like Pogacar prove the rule).Pogboom01-11-2026
- maybe we should put our cv at the end of each comment post ... same rights for all of us!Ketterechts01-11-2026
- hahah literally all it is. Glad im not the only one noticing, essentially this is just a blog as it is now. Run buy boys from their bedroom hehe Their very subjective aswell, people on twitter even said their pure visma fanboys, if you listen to Ruben silva guy pre TDF this year all he said turned out to be wrong and constantly fail to realize visma isnt where they was before roster wice or means to contest even RBH or Lidl anymore, ,very biased ppl and when you run ''news articles that way its problematic..miguel01-11-2026
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- Cutting his suit up and getting him to sign it while quite seriously injured is absolutely ghoulishwrsty01-11-2026
- 24 years old?Ketterechts01-11-2026
- Hey @frieder3, yeah sure, bull crap. What experience? You have no experience, you're an amateur cyclist... and to make things even worse, you're a lousy amateur cyclist. So what you're saying about your C7 has no relevance... do you even know where C7 is in your body? No, it's not in your knee!!! PS: Trump loves ya... 😍😍😍PogiSloFans01-11-2026
- He won't have a neck problem until he's older and arthritis kicks in lil guy !frieders301-11-2026
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