"Remco hasn't reached the end of his development yet" - Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe want to take Evenepoel to Pogacar's level in the classics

If there is one rider who is capable of matching Tadej Pogacar in the hilly and mountainous one-day races in the current peloton, it seems rather obvious that Remco Evenepoel is the most likely. At age 25, the Belgian may still have room for development, and within Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe there is the desire to reach the level of the current World Champion.

"The collaboration with Remco officially starts in a few weeks, but we're already working on it behind the scenes. There's a lot of talking and plenty of ideas being exchanged," the team's new coach Sven Vanthourenhout said in words to Het Laatste Nieuws.

The team has made a full switch over the past few months to take in the double Olympic champion - besides reigning World and European champion. Not only has the team signed his right-hand man Mattia Cattaneo, but Vanthourenhout himself - the man who guided Evenepoel towards his Olympic titles, alongside other staff members making the move over from Soudal - Quick-Step.

Evenepoel has achieved a lot, but moving to a team now with greater mountain support, what he can achieve in Grand Tours may also improve. Next year's goals are still undetermined, but in his current form, the Belgian has big goals currently in mind before the season ends.

"Pogacar can maintain such an acceleration for longer than anyone else. For a few minutes, he pushes twenty, thirty, or forty watts more than the rest, after which he drops back to a 'normal' wattage."

Hence what needs to be improved for the Belgian seems rather clear. It is necessary at the very least to keep his current power for the longer efforts, however as did Jonas Vingegaard, Evenepoel most likely will want to work on his shorter climbing efforts. Something in which he currently thrives, but not to the level of the World Champion which is the ultimate goal.

“On the one hand, you have Pogacar, who is an enormous talent – ​​it's obvious that he's inherited certain qualities from nature that can't always be trained. On the other hand, I'm convinced that Remco hasn't reached the end of his development yet and that he can take the step towards Pogacar. Through performance, through nutrition, through training.”

Vanthourenhout knows that this may be a priority for next year: “It's no secret that you can work on these things with specific interval training. However, you have to consider the individual athlete: you always have to maintain a balance between the three engines. You can't train solely for those super-intensive efforts, because for a cyclist, basic fitness remains crucial".

However he is keen on pointing out that this refers to the one-day races, such as the recent World and European Championships where he was the only one close to the Slovenian, not the Grand Tours where at the time being Pogacar's climbing ability, time trialing and consistency seems to be head and shoulders over even his closest rivals.

"Remco won't improve by another fifteen percent, but I truly believe he can become Pogacar's equal in the one-day races. I'm not talking about the stage races."