'Proof that my form is there'

Belgian's third San Sebastian victory shows title defence is on course

Remco Evenepoel underscored his superb form ahead of next weekend’s World Championships road race in Glasgow with his third victory at the Clásica San Sebastián in what was his final outing in the rainbow jersey, at least for now.

Although the Glasgow course appears to lend itself better to the talents of Wout van Aert or Jasper Philipsen, Evenepoel will surely enjoy considerable latitude in the Belgian team. He downplayed the idea that his San Sebastián victory had been a way of staking his claim.

“This victory shows that I have the legs, but our Belgian selection is clear,” Evenepoel said. “We have three leaders, with Wout and Jasper, who are more for the sprint, and there’s me, who is capable of attacking from distance like last year. So this isn’t a ‘response,’ it’s just proof that my form is there, that I have the legs to be in front next week.”

In Wollongong last year, Evenepoel took bronze in the time trial before winning the road race with a long solo attack, and he will again line out in both events in Glasgow.

As part of the novel schedule for the UCI’s first multi-discipline 'Super Worlds', the time trial comes five days after Sunday’s road race.

Evenepoel was reluctant to say if his prospects were better in one race over the other.

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“I think they both should suit me, but we'll see,” he said when speaking of his summer goals to a select group of media, including Cyclingnews.

“I think the TT is long and not super technical, which will help me and then the road race is pretty technical, but it's a super long race. I think it's going to be a special race. Let's hope the rain will stay away, but of course it’s in Glasgow.

“The local lap has a lot of corners and a lot of up and down, but the race will be close to seven hours, which will put a lot of fatigue in the legs and where I think that attackers or a breakaway will have a benefit.”

After the Worlds, Evenepoel will race the Vuelta a España, where he is defending the crown he won in 2022.

The Belgian abandoned May’s Giro d’Italia while leading the race after he tested positive for COVID-19. In Spain, he will face Giro winner Primoz Roglic and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, who share leadership of a strong Jumbo-Visma squad.

“We have to write down the Tour winner as the absolute top favourite. That makes sense,” Evenepoel said, according to Wielerflits.

“Jumbo-Visma also have a super strong team in the Vuelta. I like it. It is a valuable learning experience for me for next year. But it’s not just a school. We will also try to perform.”

Evenepoel was also asked if he could hope to match the level reached by Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar at the most recent edition of the Tour de France.

“That’s a very difficult question. We will never know. Or maybe not until after next year's Tour. But if I can believe all the calculations that have been made on the basis of their watts per kilo, then Tadej and Jonas have produced figures in the Tour that I have already achieved. Although they obviously did it day after day,” Evenepoel said.

“I think both of them have reached an incredibly high level this year, really impressive. Now it's up to me to work hard in the coming year so that I can take big steps forward to get close to those two super good and riders. I hope to be able to compete with them in 2024.”

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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.

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