"We still don't know what happened" - Jose De Cauwer fears people won't soon forget Remco Evenepoel's dramatic Vuelta collapse

Although he already has a Grand Tour win on his palmares, for some there remain lingering doubts over whether or not Remco Evenepoel can compete against the best for three weeks. Following the Belgian's dramatic collapse on the Queen Stage of this year's Vuelta a Espana, Jose De Cauwer fears such talk will only grow.

"Maybe his entourage do, but we still don't know what happened on the Tourmalet," De Cauwer says on Sporza as part of their recap of the past year in cycling. "I suspect an accumulation of stress and various other factors that blocked him there, but there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding that case."

Although he was able to bounce back well at the Vuelta and take home stage wins with his King of the Mountains jersey, the inability to maintain a general classification challenge for three weeks worries De Cauwer. "All of this will not simply be forgotten and forgiven by the team," he explains. "There will have to be open discussions with everyone to put things back in order. This is the only way you can to remove everyone's doubts and look ahead again."

Looking at the year as a whole however, De Cauwer believes it was another successful campaign for the Soudal - Quick-Step leader. "From Catalonia to the Vuelta, the Giro, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and even the World Championship: Remco Evenepoel has had another great season," he concludes.

What drama at #LaVuelta23…😬

Poor Remco Evenepoel.

Any stage of a Grand Tour that rides the Col d’Aubisque & the Tourmalet is likely to rearrange the contenders for the overall win but usually a big name might ship tens of seconds or a minute to their rivals not 27 minutes. pic.twitter.com/K3mET0zzkG

— Neon Brown 🍌 (@NeonBrown10) September 8, 2023