France’s brutal Worlds pace cracks Evenepoel early: 'Maybe they destroyed their own leader too'

The Belgian had arrived among the leading contenders for the title and was chasing a rare World Championships double after successfully defending his time trial crown a week earlier. But from the opening lap of the finishing circuit, Evenepoel knew something was wrong.

“I wasn’t really good today, unfortunately,” Evenepoel said, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. “From the first lap the pace was incredibly high and I immediately felt that I didn’t have my best feeling.”

France had taken responsibility for much of the early work once the race reached Montreal, with Bruno Armirail driving the peloton on behalf of Paul Seixas. The sustained pressure quickly reduced the field, and Evenepoel felt the consequences early. 

“It was a very hard race because of the pace set by France,” Evenepoel said. “Maybe they destroyed their own leader with it too.”

Seixas remained in contention deep into the finale, but eventually faded after cramping on the final lap, adding some weight to Evenepoel’s pointed observation.

Evenepoel’s own difficulties became visible with almost 60km remaining. As the race split again on Voie Camillien-Houde and a strong group containing several of the main contenders formed ahead, he was unable to follow and slipped out of the group of favourites.

Evenepoel never completely disappeared from the race, however, and he fought his way back into contention several times. He continued to look for opportunities to attack, but his lack of form was exposed by the course.

“On the longer climbs, it was always quite difficult towards the end,” Evenepoel said. “On the shorter, steeper sections I could still push pretty well.

“I tried something a few times, but they were always on my wheel pretty quickly. I can’t blame anyone for that. I tried a few more times, but it just wasn’t meant to be today.”

Wout van Aert also helped Evenepoel back towards the front after he had been distanced, giving Belgium another chance to salvage something from the race.

Evenepoel said the work of his teammates was one of the reasons he continued fighting despite knowing he was below his best.

“I don’t think I’m the type of person who is going to look for excuses,” he said. “I fought and tried to finish as high as possible.”

“It was mainly because of the work the guys had done that I kept fighting to finish as high as possible.”

Evenepoel also dismissed any suggestion that illness had contributed to his performance.  “I just wasn’t super,” he said. “I simply wasn’t good.”

That made the timing of the off day especially frustrating. Evenepoel said he had felt strong throughout the week leading into the race.

“I had a good feeling all week, so it’s a shame that the bad day falls exactly today,” he said. “If we could choose our days, it would be easy.”