Will Belgium go for Remco Evenepoel or Wout van Aert in Zurich? "I think a little more for Remco" - thinks Serge Pauwels

National coach Sven Vanthourenhout and assistant Serge Pauwels have visited Zurich in recent days. The largest Swiss city should provide for a challenging World Championships course at the end of September. Reportedly one for climbers. But what do the Belgian coaches think about it?

"It's quite difficult," Pauwels exclaims when Sporza ask him about his analysis. "Very beautiful too, with those typical, wide Swiss roads and a beautiful view of Lake Zurich."

What types should we consider for this type of circuit? "We need riders with endurance," estimates Serge Pauwels. "The sequence of slopes is not too bad, but the distance makes it grueling anyway. And that climb in two steps is really harder than I had thought in advance. It is really a tough circuit."

Should Belgium go for Remco Evenepoel or Wout van Aert? "I think a little more for Remco. It's a lot of climbing and at such difficult moments he can put that extra gear. And on the wide roads he can also ride away in his time trial style on that course."

´Bringing Evenepoel and Van Aert sound like a lock, but who else could do well on such parcours? If we think about climbers, Cian Uijtdebroeks is the most promising Belgian climber, even if his one-day race palmares are empty. "Cian Uijtdebroeks? Yes, although he has not often proven anything in one-day work. I am thinking more of a Maxim Van Gils. The way he rode this spring, he can certainly do something there. Remco and Wout too. But the selection is of course the responsibility of Sven Vanthourenhout."