"Pogacar is simply outstanding": No regrets in Belgian camp after European Championships defeat

Team Belgium had to figure out a strategy to defeat Tadej Pogacar ahead of the European Championships road race. Otherwise, they wouldn't win - as simple as that. And so, the colleagues of Remco Evenepoel entered the race with offensive strategy to dethrone their Slovenian rival.

The first step was to send satellite rider(s) along with the day's first move. However the battle for breakaway was much harder contested than Belgians could've hoped for and so it took whole first lap to have a group steer clear with Louis Vervaeke in it for Belgium.

"That meant the Slovenians had to ride behind the early breakaway," Tiesj Benoot explains. "That way, we were able to stay out of the way." However this group of 14 was kept on a short leash and caught by peloton one lap later, before Belgium could use their card.

Afterwards, Belgium tried to put pressure on Pogacar with an increased pace from Steff Cras and Junior Lecerf. "With that move, we wanted to isolate Pogacar, and we succeeded."

However, Evenepoel's early attack soon after wasn't exactly part of the strategy. "It wasn't the plan for Remco to attack shortly afterward," Xandro Meurisse admits. "Although we knew that with this form, Remco shouldn't be afraid to attack from far away."

After Evenepoel's acceleration was countered by Pogacar, the remaining Belgians in peloton seized control of the pace. "That's the only thing you can discuss, that we were in the lead just before we rode up that long climb for the third time," Benoot admitted. "But until then we hadn't done anything that would play into Pogacar's hands."

The Belgians had mainly hoped that Pogacar would not immediately step on the gas at the foot of the last long climb of the day, 75 kilometers from the finish. Then, the strong compatriots of Evenepoel could come into play against lone Pogacar.

"We would have tackled the local circuit with a strong Belgian collective. Pogacar wouldn't have been able to gain that much time on Evenepoel on those short climbs," Vervaeke estimates. "But if Tadej launches his attack at the foot of that long climb, there's nothing you can do about it. That climb took 20 minutes, and then Pogacar is simply outstanding."

Can the Belgian team blame themselves for unknowingly rolling out the red carpet for Pogacar? "What could we have done differently?" Vervaeke wonders. "If anyone can tell me how to beat Tadej today, I'd love to hear it."

"The course was simply so tough that it was difficult as a collective to do anything against a rider who stood out so much,” Benoot analyses. "At least we didn't let ourselves be led like sheep to the slaughter. We don't have to regret our race."

Evenepoel was ultimately about a minute short of catching Tadej Pogacar who slowed down in the final kilometer to enjoy his celebration. The race had only 17 finishers, but both Benoot and Vervaeke were among them, crossing the line together in 13th and 14th place respectively.