No lessons for Evenepoel from Worlds disappointment: 'I just didn't have a good day'

The Belgian lined up as the favourite in Montreal after scorching to a fourth straight world time trial title, but he could only manage 12th after betraying signs of struggling on the climbs throughout the final two hours of racing.

Evenepoel will go again in Slovenia this weekend, when he sets out as the favourite for the European Championships road race. Defending champion Tadej Pogačar is an absentee, along with Paul Seixas, Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel.

“I didn’t necessarily learn anything from the World Championships, I just didn’t have a good day,” Evenepoel told Sporza in Ljubljana. 

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider was initially due to travel to Slovenia on Thursday, but he delayed his journey by a day in order to put in a five-hour training ride on home roads.

“I had to readjust straight away to what’s coming up this Sunday, so I had a few more days to train properly at home and hopefully it’ll be good enough for Sunday,” he said.

Evenepoel is the reigning European time trial champion, and victory in Sunday’s road race would complete a full set of championship jerseys after he previously landed both road and time trial titles at the World and Belgian Championships.

“That is certainly a major motivation for me,” Evenepoel said. “The urge to do it is definitely there. That was actually already the case last year, but it didn’t work out then.”

Twelve months ago, Evenepoel took silver in the European Championships road race, a repeat of his display in Trento in 2021. He knows that the absence of the defending champion Pogacar makes him the favourite here, but that was the case in Canada last weekend too. Nothing is a given in this game.

“I think last Sunday showed that you really have to focus on your own performance and not necessarily assume it’s a done deal,” Evenepoel said. “It’s definitely a major motivation to try and win. On Sunday, we’ll be giving it our all.”

In the days since the World Championships, there have been repeated rumours that the Belgian camp was affected by a virus in Canada, but Evenepoel sought to downplay the idea when it was put to him.

“No, no... Don’t start, okay?” he smiled.

Earlier on Friday, Belgian national coach Serge Pauwels dismissed the idea that Evenepoel’s delayed arrival in Slovenia meant he had considered skipping the event altogether.

“Remco is going all out, he never doubted for a single moment about withdrawing from this European Championships,” Pauwels said, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. “On the contrary, he even scheduled an extra training day because he wants to be 100% here.” 

Evenepoel is one of three Belgian riders to combine the Worlds and European Championships, together with Maxim Van Gils and Quinten Hermans. In the absence of Wout van Aert, he is Belgium’s lone leader on Sunday. 

“The difference is that we have one leader compared to Montreal,” Pauwels said of his strategy. “We have a strong team to support him, and Remco is obviously the man we are going to back.”