"There’s a fine line between confidence and naivety" - Remco Evenepoel and Soudal - Quick-Step called out for 'stupid' La Fleche Wallonne tactics

Things didn't exactly go to plan for Remco Evenepoel at La Fleche Wallonne 2025 on Wednesday afternoon. After being clear pre-race that he needed to explode the race early if he wanted to win, the Belgian entered the final climb of the Mur de Huy in a relatively large peloton. As a result, the Soudal - Quick-Step leader came home in 9th, some way off the fight for victory.

Speaking post-race, Evenepoel himself blamed a tactical error in removing his rain jacket too early. “That made me cold in the final and I lost energy. I can only blame myself for that. When Tadej Pogacar went, my legs locked up. I can only blame that on the cold, because I felt great beforehand,” the double Olympic champion explained. 

"I get it - once you get really cold, you lose coordination and blood flow in your muscles, which makes it harder to produce power," analyses ex-pro turned expert Thijs Zonneveld on the In de Waaier podcast, understanding Evenepoel's explanation. "Pogacar doesn’t seem to be affected at all, while others clearly struggle with it. That’s a kind of talent too."

Just because Zonneveld understands Evenepoel's explanation however, doesn't mean the Dutchman is a fan of how the Soudal - Quick-Step team rode during Wednesday's Ardennes Classic. "I thought what he did was odd. He said beforehand that he shouldn't go to the Mur de Huy with Thibau Nys, and certainly not with Pogacar. And what does he do? He puts his team at the front and has them set a hard tempo all day. What did he expect?" Zonneveld questions. "What was the plan? There are really strong riders on Soudal Quick-Step, but we’ve seen that it takes more than that to hurt Pogacar. If this was the plan… setting a steady pace is the worst thing you can do against someone like Pogacar."

"The only tactic I saw was setting a hard pace all day and hoping Evenepoel could drop Pogacar in a three-minute effort," Zonneveld continues critically. "I like that he has confidence and races with guts, but there’s a fine line between confidence and naivety - or even stupidity. As a plan, this made no sense."

As such, Zonneveld is sending a warning to Evenepoel and Soudal - Quick-Step ahead of this weekend's Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Don't repeat the same mistakes again. "I really hope they move away from this idea of taking control, burning through riders one by one, and thinking Pogacar is going to crack under it. That’s just not going to work," he concludes.