‘Worst rider in the world’ Evenepoel offers explanations for Montréal off day

Evenepoel crossed the line 35 seconds behind winner Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) after being unable to match the decisive accelerations of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and the Mexican on the final ascent of the Côte Camillien Houde.

Two weeks out from the elite men's road race on many of the same roads, the result inevitably raised questions about Evenepoel's form. He was already anticipating them when he spoke to reporters after the finish.

“You’re probably going to make me the worst rider in the world now,” Evenepoel joked to Sporza.

“No, I just really didn’t have a good day.”

The Olympic champion believes fatigue from Friday's GP Québec, combined with Saturday's journey to Montréal, may have contributed.

“I don't think I had completely recovered from Québec and the somewhat amateurish trip yesterday, although it was the same for everyone,” he said.

“I rode the final 30 kilometres in Québec flat out. There were riders behind me who had to make a little less of an effort, and you shouldn't underestimate that either.”

The damp conditions did not help the Belgian either.

“I’m never really good in humid weather,” Evenepoel added.

Still, he saw little reason for alarm. Even on a day when the legs were not responding as he wanted, Evenepoel remained involved deep into a demanding race and eventually secured fifth with a strong finish.

“I can't complain,” he said. “If this was a bad day, it wasn't that bad. And it's better to have a bad day today than in two weeks at the World Championships.”

There were encouraging signs for Evenepoel before the final selection was made.

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider had initially missed a dangerous group containing Del Toro, Seixas, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but attacked from behind with Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) and managed to bridge across before the final lap.

“I couldn't respond to the attack uphill, but I was the only one who was able to close the gap afterwards,” Evenepoel said.

On the final climb, however, Seixas produced an acceleration that Evenepoel could not answer. Del Toro later made his way across to the French teenager before beating him in a two man sprint for victory.

McNulty took third ahead of Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), while Evenepoel recovered sufficiently to pass two riders in the closing metres and take fifth.

“I also did a good sprint in the end,” he said. “It didn't look good for fifth at first, but I managed to get two riders back on the line.”

For Evenepoel, the longer distance of the World Championships road race is another reason not to read too much into Sunday's result, with the extra kilometres likely to produce a very different type of finale.

“The World Championships are 60 kilometres longer than today,” Evenepoel explained. “It will be a very different race with a lot more fatigue. Less explosive and more about endurance.”

That could play more to Evenepoel’s strengths than the sharper, more explosive finale seen in Montréal.

For that reason, the Belgian was not overly concerned by missing out on the podium and instead viewed the race as another step towards the World Championships.

“It was a good training day with a nice result,” he said.

Evenepoel will now turn his focus to next Sunday’s individual time trial, before lining up for the road race a week later.