Remco calling! Belgian junior champion called by Remco Evenepoel: “He even waited to go to training so he could call”

It was a moment to remember for 18-year-old Mathias De Keersmaeker on Sunday. After powering to victory in the Belgian Junior Men’s Championship, the young sprinter received a congratulatory phone call from none other than Remco Evenepoel, the national superstar, double Olympic champion and world champion.

De Keersmaeker, who rides for the R.EV Brussels Cycling Academy, crossed the line first in a mass sprint to take the junior national title. His team is closely linked to Evenepoel, who helped establish the academy and remains deeply involved in its operation.

“Remco is always very closely involved. He always knows the results very quickly,” De Keersmaeker told RTV after his win. That involvement was clear as soon as the race ended, with the teenager’s phone ringing almost immediately.

Evenepoel, who is currently preparing for the Critérium du Dauphiné, made time to personally congratulate the rising star. According to De Keersmaeker, the call was no accident.

“He had even waited especially to go to training so he could call if we would win. Patrick (Patrick Evenepoel) said that Remco had predicted it. That's why he had waited. That was cool.”

Evenepoel’s thoughtful gesture came just days before one of the biggest races of the season. The Critérium du Dauphiné, which begins this weekend, will feature all three of last year’s Tour de France superstars, Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Evenepoel himself, lining up together for the first time in 2025.