Jan Bakelants is impressed with Remco Evenepoel: “This is the best Evenepoel ever on tour”

Remco Evenepoel had no answer to Tadej Pogacar’s acceleration on the final climb to Pla d’Adet and also had to let Jonas Vingegaard ride, but he was the best after these two stints. He finished 1’10” behind Pogacar and lost 31 seconds to Vingegaard. An important performance, which they also found on the table of Karl Vanewekerke.

Johnny Hoogerland was worried in the first week. “Then I saw that he was having difficulty coming down the Galibier. But now he is coming and today he surprised me. Especially the moment he came back to Vingegaard. I thought then that he would go up again and again. Going to Pogacar he will drive the car, and now he has a strong grip on third place.”

Sebt Vanmarcke also looked on with admiration. “I think what he is doing is very impressive. The goal was to finish in the top five and it seems he has done it with a bang, even a podium is possible and he has already taken a stage win.”

“He’s astonishing time and time again. Not only by continuing to fight for the podium, but also by finishing second behind Vingegaard by a few seconds. He certainly doesn’t seem to be slowing down. And who knows, he could really become Vingegaard’s equal next season.”

In Dauphiné, Remco Evenepoel’s climb was not yet complete. He corrected that in a short period of time. Great job by his coach and his team, says Jan Bakelants.

“In Dauphiné, the difficult conditions weren’t good enough to come and play this. What they’ve achieved in two weeks is really impressive. It makes me optimistic for the future. They look calm, sharp and balanced. We have the latter yet to see.”

Evenepoel had trouble climbing, which was immediately apparent in his body language in the past. Vankirk points out that there is no longer any indication of that.

Vanmarcke sees the explanation in more experience. “I think he stops just before the problems and finds his own pace. He is used to crossing the line and now he understands where that line is. That way he doesn’t lose too much time.”

According to Bakelantis, Evenepoel has never been better. “This is the best race Evenepoel has ever ridden on the circuit. Better than the one he won at the Vuelta. I think his climbing times and values ​​are noticeably higher than they were in his best period.”

This raises the question of how much progress the 24-year-old Evenepoel can still make. Bakelants is not convinced that there is still much room for improvement. “In old cycling, you were young until you were 27, but now riders come earlier. They train perfectly from newcomers.”

“I hope so for him, but I don’t think there’s much you can do. Your physiological limits are hardwired into your DNA and there’s not much you can do about that.”

Vanmarcke disagrees. “Evenpoel started late, he still has a few years left in the reserve. He has improved since his Vuelta win, why would he stop suddenly now? He will not improve significantly anymore, but there is always room for improvement.”

Hoogerland also sees Evenepoel getting stronger. “If you see how much he has improved in these few weeks, the team will also learn from that. Before the Tour, I thought Evenepoel would definitely have one or two really bad days, now I don’t think that will happen.”