"You're talking about three or five minutes" - Remco Evenepoel on what he has to improve to match Pogacar
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel is on peak form and has proved that quite convincingly by winning both World and European time trial titles in the past two weeks. He would've made history by winning also both road world titles, adding to the current two Olympic titles, if it weren't for Tadej Pogacar who's been dominating over the past few big races. The Belgian wonders what he will have to improve on in order to close the gap on the Slovenian.
“I'll have to do even better, but luckily I'm changing teams, so it's their problem," Evenepoel joked in the mixed zone this Sunday. I think the final of this European Championship will be exciting for my new team and trainer. They can analyze it and decide what kind of training we need to do.”
Evenepoel didn't suffer mechanical issues this Sunday, but couldn't respond to Tadej Pogacar's nuclear attack on Saint Romain de Lerps. Initially he was able to follow, but the consistently high pace of the reigning World Champion up the 7-kilometer climb proved to be too much for Evenepoel, who then didn't find a group that would perfectly collaborate, and couldn't manage to close the gap again. The key part is being able to follow Pogacar.
"I don't think it's about a one-minute effort, because we're already going hard in the phase before that. You're talking about three or five minutes, and I'll have to work on that in the winter," he admits. "I need to get accustomed to it and improve at it. We did work on it in the summer, but there simply wasn't enough time to improve significantly."
Motivated to win Il Lombardia
Evenepoel has most of what he needs to be at the level of Pogacar in these sorts of races, except for the climbing level, which no-one in the peloton seemingly has. The Soudal - Quick-Step rider wants to put more emphasis on his sort efforts so as to be able to better match the attacks of his rival. "If you're a good time trialist, you can also pedal at a higher power output for a certain period of time before returning to a more normal pace. Climbing is also about watts per kilo, but that's always easier said than done".
After the worlds and europeans, he will also face Pogacar at Il Lombardia but it's difficult to imagine a different scenario. Already last year the outcome of the race was a solo victory for Pogacar, with a large margin over Evenepoel, who himself had a large margin over the rest of the competitors.
“I'm going to give it my best shot and then we'll see where I stand next year. Everyone knows I'm motivated to win Lombardia. This year we're riding to Bergamo again, with almost 20 kilometers of valley in the final. The Passo di Ganda, as the final climb, is tough, but not as tough as last year's final climb," he adds, perhaps making it more difficult to make the difference. "It will be slightly less steep, so I have to stay with him as long as possible with the legs I have now. I'm going to make the best of it and I feel ready".
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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