Evenepoel fires Van der Poel warning ahead of Worlds: ‘He can destroy everyone here’

Two days before the road race, Evenepoel was relaxed as he faced the international media and eventually allowed himself to be talked into accepting the favourite tag.

“Based on the results of my latest races, probably yes,” he said in quotes collected by Het Nieuwsblad.

“In May it was a different story. Fine, I accept your question. Am I the favourite? I’ll say yes.”

It was about as far as Evenepoel was willing to go. He may arrive with the strongest recent results, but he does not see the race as his to lose.

Van der Poel, in particular, remains a major concern.

“For me, he has a big chance of winning,” Evenepoel said. “We saw that in Zürich as well. On this course I give him more or less the same chance.”

When it was pointed out that Van der Poel finished only third in Zürich, Evenepoel smiled and pushed back.

“Mathieu is one of the super talents of the sport. On a super day, with golden legs, he can destroy everyone here.”

That assessment also explains some of the tactical caution inside the Belgian camp. Evenepoel does not want Belgium to spend the whole day controlling the race while riders such as Van der Poel, Paul Seixas and Isaac Del Toro wait for their moment.

Asked whether Belgium should carry the race, he was clear.

“I don’t think so. Both Wout and I can arrive at the finish in a small group. In Wout’s case, it could even be a slightly bigger group.”

Instead, Evenepoel believes France may have more reason to force the issue.

“If I think about who really needs to arrive alone, I end up with France. Paul Seixas will probably have to do that. So the pressure is on France. We can use that tactically. We definitely don’t have to work all the time.”

Evenepoel expects the French to make the race hard regardless of what is said before the start.

“The French often say at championships that other teams have to make the race hard. Then suddenly they go full gas in the second lap and the race explodes. I expect something similar now.”

Seixas is not the only rider he expects to avoid a sprint with him.

“Paul is a great guy and he has a good sprint. But France has to make the race hard to improve his chances. Paul and Isaac Del Toro will not want to take me to the sprint, just like I don’t want to take Van der Poel to the finish.”

That last point matters more than it once did. Evenepoel feels his sprint has improved significantly over the past two seasons, giving him another option if he cannot simply ride his rivals off the wheel.

“My sprint has improved a lot in the last two years,” he said.

“If I can’t drop riders, I can also wait. You saw that in Montréal [GP Montréal]. I had to wait with my group until the finish, but I still won the sprint for fifth place.”

“That makes me calmer in a final. I can read the race a little more from behind. The same applies to Wout.”

The GP Montréal itself raised questions over Evenepoel’s form after he struggled more on the longer climb, but he dismissed any suggestion that he had deliberately kept something back before the Worlds.

“I wasn’t playing hide and seek. I had already given a lot in Québec. I didn’t feel great, I’m not going to lie about that.”

“I struggled more on the flatter section after the long climb. It definitely wasn’t deliberate. That’s not how I race.”

He also explained why he repeatedly rode the Camillien Houde climb during Wednesday’s reconnaissance.

“I hadn’t ridden that much over the weekend because of the time trial. I wanted one final intensive day. Going up and down that climb was easier than riding the full 13 kilometre lap every time.”

For Belgium, the presence of both Evenepoel and Wout van Aert gives the team several ways to play the final.

Evenepoel believes the course suits him better on paper, particularly with almost 4,000 metres of climbing, but he was careful not to write off his teammate.

“If you look purely at the course, it suits me better,” he said.

“But Wout is one of the great talents of his generation. On an exceptional day he can do great things and go very far here as well.”

“But this course has almost 4,000 metres of elevation gain. Then weight starts to matter a little.”

There is no rigid agreement between the pair over who should move in which situation.

Evenepoel believes that would be almost pointless.

“Something unexpected always happens and suddenly you end up in the one scenario you didn’t discuss.”

“We have already had a few tactical meetings and they were mainly about how we want to approach the middle part, from around eight laps to five laps from the finish. That’s where we have to maintain control of the race.”

“In the final, the legs will speak anyway.”

The old questions about Leuven and his relationship with Van Aert also returned, though Evenepoel had little appetite for another post mortem.

“Leuven keeps coming back, but nobody made a mistake there, did they? I don’t always understand the criticism about it.”

“Watch that race again. Wout asked me to do one thing and I did it.”

By Sunday, that history will matter much less than who still has the legs deep into the final.

He already knows what it feels like to win the rainbow jersey after Wollongong in 2022, but that does not make the pressure disappear.

“I know what it is like to wake up every morning and be able to put on a white jersey with rainbow bands. For a rider, that is an incredible privilege.”

“But let’s be honest. If I don’t win on Sunday, nobody is going to say: no problem, he already became world champion once in Wollongong.”