"With Remco it's a bit more cocky" - Is Evenepoel vs Pogacar the best rivalry in cycling right now?

After six months away from racing due to a training crash in December, Remco Evenepoel has come back like he never left. In the space of a week, the Belgian star has taken victory at the Brabantse Pijl and secured third place at the Amstel Gold Race, two races, two podiums to kick off his 2025 season.

In the latest episode of the Kop over Kop podcast, Jeroen Vanbelleghem, Karsten Kroon, and Jan Hermsen analysed Evenepoel’s explosive return, and his budding rivalry with Tadej Pogacar.

"Remco's performance in the Brabantse Pijl was already one of the moments of the season for me," said Vanbelleghem. "He won the sprint from Wout van Aert there, and that gave him courage to also gamble on his sprint in the Amstel on Sunday. Unfortunately, that turned out just wrong."

Kroon pointed to that decision as the turning point in Sunday’s finale, "Remco should have gone there already. Then you would have seen that Mattias Skjelmose and Tadej Pogacar would have a hard time. Now we got a sprint of dying swans. Remco rides fourteen seconds flat in the sprint, but that is too much for the victory. He capped it."

Vanbelleghem believes Pogacar may have underestimated his competition in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel, "Without Mathieu Van der Poel, he probably thought he could handle the rest. But he was very wrong. He was close, but it wasn't sovereign. And then you see that Remco, who had fallen earlier, comes back and is simply the best in the race again."

Hermsen agreed that Friday’s result may have influenced Evenepoel’s tactical approach. "If Remco had not won that sprint from Van Aert on Friday, he might not have gambled on his sprint at all in the Amstel."

The rivalry between Pogacar and Evenepoel is clearly starting to heat up, "The rivalry between Evenepoel and Pogacar is great," said Vanbelleghem. "With Pogacar and Van der Poel it's always friendly. But with Remco it's a bit more cocky. And that makes the race more exciting."

Kroon echoed the sentiment, "It was great that Remco went full throttle over Pogacar. Only Skjelmose had something up his sleeve. He was able to save his strength and eventually finished it off nicely in the sprint."

Looking ahead to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Vanbelleghem sees the potential for something special, "It would be a dream to see Evenepoel and Pogacar in a man-to-man duel there. Just like Frank Vandenbroucke and Michele Bartoli in their best days. I think it's a beautiful region to cycle. The La Redoute and the Roche-aux-Faucons will be decisive."