Belgium's national team coach Sven Vanthourenhout has talked about the dispute that took place at last year's Leuven World championships between Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel, and reveals that they have been working on a 'conciliatory meeting'.
The Belgian team's national coach Sven Vanthourenhout has said that there is an active effort in getting the two mega-talents to meet and have a conciliatory meeting as the two are likely to share leadership duties often in the coming years: “We have not managed to meet together, because it was really difficult. Normally we planned to see each other there but Jumbo-Visma they stopped their camp after two days because of COVID-19. I was there, and I went to the QuickStep camp to see Remco. But to sit down with three was not possible," Vanthourenhout told Cyclingnews in a recent interview.
This comes off the back of last year's World Championships in Leuven where the Belgian team was put under tremendous pressure from the media and ended up swarmed, with Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel and Jasper Stuyven unsuccessful in bringing a medal from the men's road race. A lot of coverage was had for weeks regarding every detail in the run-up and during the race from the team, which has put strain between the two.
“With the three of us together it was not yet possible so that’s planned now for after the Classics. Remco is on the Teide now. Wout is at the Classics. We’ve had a chat on the phone together, but after the Classics we’ll speak together again face to face. Everything is okay. There are no troubles anymore, but it will be good to see each other," Vanthourenhout added.
Evenepoel was said to be absent from the team's pre-race meeting, and later said he had "the legs to become World champion". Vanthourenhout was aware of the dispute, but he insists that it is water under the bridge, and the duo are looking ahead: “What happened was disappointing, but Remco has learned, and we have all learned a lot from what happened. If there is another problem this year it will be a different one. It won’t be the same one again, that’s for sure.”
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