Quick-Step DS: "I do see similarities between Remco and Lance"

Remco Evenepoel is a rising star within cycling, having just reached a climax this season with dominating wins at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Vuelta a Espana and the World Championships. He's been in the past many times compared to Eddy Merckx, but he's now been compared to Lance Armstrong aswell by his own staff.

“It may be a wrong comparison, but in terms of character I do see similarities between Remco and Lance," team DS Klaas Lodewyck told RIDE Magazine. "Apart from everything that went wrong with Armstrong in the past, Lance was also someone who could never win enough. If he was at the start somewhere, he wanted to be the best. Remco has always wanted to win that too."

As a rider who has suffered a lot from media pressure over the last few years, in a way that virtually no other rider in the peloton has when it came to comparisons, this comparison by the former Belgian pro came as a bit of a surprise. However, he explains it is due to the mentality, which has also seen Evenepoel conquer several big races this year.

"On the last Sunday morning of the Vuelta a España in Madrid, he already started talking to us about the World Championships in Wollongong. It's never enough. That also shows that he is always riden to be the best and to win races," he explains.

“Lance was a killer. If you kicked his shins, he kicked back ten times harder. Usually he did this on a bicycle and sometimes also verbally. Remco also has that killer mentality. He also often answers with performance on the bike. Although Remco is a lot more diplomatic in his comments," Lodewyck concluded.