“When Tadej goes and Remco can’t, he gets frustrated – he tried to throw the mechanic under the bus”: Ben Healy saw Evenepoel’s anger first-hand in Kigali

Ben Healy has offered an unusually candid insight into the decisive moments of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, describing how Remco Evenepoel reacted when Tadej Pogacar delivered the winning attack on Mount Kigali — and how the Belgian’s frustration spilled over in the aftermath.

Healy was clear that from inside the group, Evenepoel’s explanation about a slipping saddle never matched what he actually saw happening on the road.

“He gets in a bit of a tizz when Tadej goes and he can’t,” Healy said in conversation with The Roadman Podcast, recalling the moment Pogacar made the decisive move. “I think it was definitely in his head.”

Healy pointed out that Evenepoel had shown no difficulty accelerating strongly earlier in the race and dismissed the idea that saddle position was the real reason he failed to follow Pogacar. “Exactly. And you’re doing the same power anyway,” he said. “What are you going to achieve by banging your saddle? If it’s a millimetre out, you’re only making it worse.”

According to Healy, Evenepoel’s own support staff were just as unconvinced by the saddle explanation. “After the race his mechanic — who is also his cousin — actually outed him about the second bike, saying, ‘We don’t know what’s wrong with it,’” Healy remembered.

And when Evenepoel publicly appeared to blame his equipment, Healy said the response from inside the Belgian camp was blunt.

“He deserved that, to be fair, because he tried to throw the mechanic under the bus on TV, banging the saddle and so on, and the mechanic came out like, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with him.’”

For Healy, the real difference in Kigali had nothing to do with mechanics or marginal gains but with Pogacar’s unmatched explosiveness. “He was flipping strong,” Healy said of Evenepoel. “When we were in a group with him he was just towing us around. We were doing the bare minimum and he was like a train.”

But when Pogacar launched, Evenepoel simply couldn’t respond. “He just can’t match the acceleration Tadej has,” Healy said. “You see at Europeans: Tadej goes, Remco follows for a bit and then it’s like he’s taken a cyanide tablet — he just detonates.”

Healy suggested the difficulty was as much psychological as physical. “He can’t face losing. He’s a winner,” he said. “He’s been touted as the next big thing since he was a junior, just riding people off his wheel, and I think he struggles with the idea that someone is better than him.”

While the post-race drama centred on Evenepoel, Healy’s own bronze medal came from a far more controlled approach. “It was all about conserving energy,” he explained, citing the altitude, relentless elevation and severe air pollution across Kigali. “The air quality was through the roof.”

Healy said his low-key presence early on was deliberate. “My average power for the Worlds wasn’t impressive. I just rode as efficiently as possible.”

The Irish team structure, he said, was decisive in allowing him to stay in the fight until the final laps. “It was a massive team effort,” Healy said. “If they weren’t doing that for me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it myself.”

Bronze in Kigali has only sharpened Healy’s ambitions for the future. “I was over the moon with bronze,” he said. “To finish on the podium with those two was special.”

But he made it clear that he is not finished chasing Pogacar — and not finished chasing the sport’s biggest prize. “The dream is the rainbow jersey,” Healy said. “I’m getting there. You never know.”