"Look at riders like Pogacar and van der Poel" - Belgian pundits on Remco Evenepoel's departure and what could've been different

Remco Evenepoel continues to be Belgium's 'golden boy' - specially after his double Olympic Games triumph - and at this Tour de France there were high hopes that he would be able to perform and at least match last year's podium spot. Hence, it was a big disappointment for the nation when he abandoned the race.

“We saw that it wasn't going well, but we didn't expect it to be this bad. That blow in the final stages of the climbing time trial by Jonas Vingegaard was painful. But that can't have been the reason,” commentator José De Cauwer said in words for Sporza. “I think it's a combination of circumstances, topped off with a sauce of disappointment. ‘What am I doing here?’”

“He won a stage. But you would have expected him to be better compared to last year, when he finished third. Not in terms of ranking, but he should have been able to keep up with the real climbers. And we didn't see any of that here.”

Evenepoel struggled with consistency, it was possible to see at the Tour de Romandie, but ultimately it happened again now at the Tour de France and his climbing level was simply nowhere near what he was able to achieve. He withdrew from the race at the Col du Tourmalet.

“That you have to put a lot of things into perspective in life. Not saying things like I don't have to do anything. However, you must learn to cope with certain things. That's very important. It's an art to deal with cycling. You can do a lot and sacrifice a lot. But you also have to ask yourself: does that teach me anything? Does it make me better? Does it make me feel better about myself? He should be a bit more relaxed. He needs to let go of that tension and nervousness."

De Cauwer believes Evenepoel is still very affected by what's said about him and the attention he gets from TV bikes too. "Those gestures at the end towards the cameraman, for example. You know that's part of it. It's only logical that he's being filmed there, given his status. Actually, he shouldn't respond to that. He should know that. He needs to enjoy the race more. That goes for the whole peloton. Look at riders like Pogacar and van der Poel, how they look at the race. You might say, 'That's easy, they're absolute top riders.' Those guys also give it their all, but they try to keep it playful. That's mainly the job of the management and the team". 

Jan Bakelants, on Vive le Vélo, has argued similarly: "When you're in a downward spiral, you need a breaking point to turn it around. A rest day or a few easier stages. But if you then face another tough stage, the realization that it's going to be difficult will have already crept in this morning." The possibility of remaining in the race and focusing on stages was on the table, but ultimately it was preferable to rest and not lose the chance to still perform on his goals of later in the year.

"At such a moment, emotion takes over, and you make a decision you might regret later. You think: I didn't come here for this. And that's why he's dropping out. If he was just not feeling as well physically and there wasn't an injury or illness at play, I would have tried to push him through this difficult day," said Bakelants.

"That would have naturally resulted in a significant loss of time and would have been a painful ordeal. But there's also a third week where you can pick up some things. Normally, you don't improve, but Remco's engine is so strong that Sunday's stage and the rest day allow him to recover more or less. And that might lead to potential success further down the line."

The Belgian followed almost the exact same preparation as in 2024, but the outcome was now different: "That didn't work out this year. Why? We're not in charge. It's not an exact science. They probably wanted to do the same thing, but for various reasons—such as his winter crash—that method wasn't directly transferable this time. The same preparation process thus leads to two different outcomes."