"Sh*t roads" - Remco Evenepoel blasts Olympic Games organizers over issues in time-trial route

Remco Evenepoel is a rider who does not hold back when it's time to share some unpleasant truths. That makes him, to many, quite popular, and today he has launched a bullet at the Olympic Games organizers.

"I spent most of Monday in bed, Tuesday I cycled a bit, but that didn't feel great. Just like Wednesday and Thursday", Evenepoel told Sporza at a press conference. "I have to wait and see how Saturday goes. It has been a demanding final week in the Tour. Recovering is not easy, but I still have 2 days. We'll see if it will be enough. In any case, I came out of the Tour full of confidence and that already gives me a mental advantage."

The past few weeks could've hardly gone any better for the Belgian who made his debut at the Tour de France and came out of it with a stage win, a podium and his best ever Grand Tour performance where he was even at a similar level to that of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. "That's right, but maybe we can use our bigger engine that you have after a Grand Tour. . The course is not too technical and that plays into our hands. Then you can use your endurance more."

"We can count ourselves lucky that we can take that extra gear and that the course is not too technical. I come out of the Tour with a good feeling that it doesn't scare me... I always aim for the highest, but I know I might not be 100 percent. If I'm beaten purely on my values, then I won't complain."

Remco Evenepoel explored the time-trial route on Wednesday together with Wout van Aert and has quite sharp with his feedback: "Shit roads. It's not pleasant. The road surface is bad. That can be a problem if you have black spots in front of your eyes in the final. For the rest it's mainly straight and fast. Also nice for sightseeing."

However not all his bad for his chances of taking gold. Whilst pan-flat roads should on paper favour more the heavier rivals Filippo Ganna and Joshua Tarling, the reigning World Champion does believe it's harder than what the profile seems to indicate. "On paper it looks super flat, but it's constantly a false flat. It's going to hurt. Cadence, big plate and keeping my position: that's going to be important for me."