"One moment he's defeated, and he's a whining child who's crying" - Remco Evenepoel blasted by Dutch pundit
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel is one of the most emotional riders in the modern peloton and that was truly visible during this Sunday's World Championships road race in Kigali. The time-trial World Champion had chances of conquering another rainbow jersey last Sunday, but lost it due to childish behaviours according to Thijs Zonneveld.
“He fought hard, but mainly against himself. That guy is a walking soap opera. You get good times and bad times in a single race. All emotions come into play," Zonneveld argued in the In de Waaier podcast. Early in the race the Olympic Champion was involved in an amusing moment in a portable bathroom, but once the action really began, there was truly no lack of big moments for hours to come.
"First he becomes world champion (in the individual time-trial, ed.), then he puts his entire team in the lead, and then he drops from Pogacar's wheel to 40th place in one kilometer on Mount Kigali...” That moment on the course's main climb proved key to the outcome of the race as Pogacar dropped the Belgian. Later he would see both Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro crack, and was left alone with the strongest men behind chasing already a minute down.
Evenepoel moved back in the peloton, got dropped by the main chasing group and then switched bikes. He argued the saddle had lost height, and then upon changing bikes he believed the angle of the saddle in the second bike was wrong, making him stop again, but this time losing around 45 seconds in one of the worst-timed bike exchanges possible.
Evenepoel was very angry after losing almost a minute in a bike exchange during Sunday's race. @Imago
This one was also preventable. "I also find his reaction striking," Zonneveld argues. "I think he's just thinking 'fuck you'. He started complaining that his bike wasn't right. The mechanic says he checked everything. He said he didn't know what was wrong with the bike. That may be true, but the way Evenepoel handled it..."
It was a moment of desperation and anger. With no race radios, the Belgian car was quite behind Evenepoel's group, and the badly-timed bike exchange was made worst by the long wait.
"In the juniors, you learn to keep riding as long as possible. He just wasn't covering any distance. Evenepoel is doing what every junior knows you shouldn't do... He stops and waits. With arm gestures again, that spoiled boy. It's also unfair to the mechanic.“
Zonneveld believes that Evenepoel was mentally struggling and did not know what the right course of action was in those key minutes of the race where Pogacar got away. "It's the only effort that lasts longer than fifteen minutes; on a real climb, he gets dropped. Then he looks at his equipment and shifts the blame. Then he recovers and goes back to riding at the front. It's almost bipolar".
The Dutch pundit goes as far as blasting the Olympic champion over behaviour that he has seen in the past. "One moment he's defeated, and he's a whining child who's crying. He was just short of stamping his feet on the side of the road. Then he gets back on his bike, gets fired up, and crushes the whole group".
Evenepoel, despite all of the mishaps, returned to the group that were ahead of him, and worked together with - and dropped - everyone else except for Tadej Pogacar. With the gap at the finish line standing at 1:28, it is understandable why disappointment reigned, and why it was viable that the Belgian could've potentially caught up with Pogacar if it weren't for all the bikes issues.
“Then he's the only one who can keep Pogacar somewhat under control. Every time the pressure gets high, this kind of thing happens, and he acts like a toddler," Zonneveld concluded. "As a teammate and mechanic, I would occasionally be completely fed up with him. He has a problem with setbacks, but can subsequently overcome them.”
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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