No Roubaix surprise debut for Evenepoel after all
After Remco Evenepoel surprised both fans and rivals last week with a surprise appearance at the Tour of Flanders, where he secured an impressive third place, it now appears that this will not be followed by a debut in the ‘Hell of the North’.
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Rumours began circulating on Sunday after the Tour of Flanders when Evenepoel was asked about the possibility.
Rather than ruling out Paris-Roubaix, he suggested the idea was still loosely on the table.
“It’s not something that has been decided,” he said to Sporza. “There hasn’t been a real discussion yet, but it’s not impossible either.”
He added that the idea had already been discussed within the peloton, including in a conversation with Mathieu van der Poel. “Mathieu brought it up to me as well,” Evenepoel said with a smile.
Evenepoel made it clear that the final decision would depend on broader team considerations. “There are more people involved in that decision,” he noted. “I might be open to it, but that doesn’t mean it will happen.”
Sports director Klaas Lodewijk also refused to close the door after the race in Het Laatste Nieuws:
“It’s not like we said, ‘He will definitely not ride the Tour of Flanders,’ that we now say, ‘He will definitely not start Paris-Roubaix.’ There will come a day when Remco will certainly race there as well. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Ardennes Classics remain at least as important at this stage of his career.”
But now, less than 24 hours later, both Het Laatste Nieuws and Het Nieuwsblad report that the idea is off the table, according to sources close to Remco Evenepoel. His next race will be the Amstel Gold Race on April 19. Last year, Remco Evenepoel finished third in the race, after he and Tadej Pogačar were surprisingly beaten by Mattias Skjelmose.
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