Remco Evenepoel has admitted he may not be at his best for Saturday’s Olympic Games time trial. After a gruelling battle for a podium spot at the Tour de France, the 24-year-old Belgian is feeling fatigued and less optimistic. He stayed in the South of France following Sunday’s final time trial stage and the evening podium ceremony alongside Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. However, he struggled to train before travelling to Paris on Wednesday to scout the 32.4 km course.
“The final week of the Tour was demanding. Recovering is not easy, but I still have two days,” Evenepoel told Sporza and other Belgian media on Thursday. “We’ll see if it’s enough. I came out of the Tour full of confidence and that already gives me a mental advantage.”
Assessing the Course
Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert completed their final reconnaissance of the Paris time trial course on Wednesday afternoon. The course starts at the L’esplanade des Invalides and heads east to Place de la Bastille, then loops through the Bois de Vincennes park before finishing near the Eiffel Tower. Evenepoel wasn’t impressed with the city centre roads. “The first and last five kilometres are pretty shit roads,” he said. “Then it’s straight and fast. Quite some beautiful sightseeing as well. But the road surface is pretty bad in the beginning and in the end. So that might be a problem if you have black spots in front of your eyes in the last kilometres. It’s not so nice, but OK.”
He acknowledged that the course looks flat on paper but involves a lot of false flats, which will hurt. “It’ll be about cadence, big gear, and keeping my position. That’s going to be important for me.”
Competitive Field
Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout named Josh Tarling and Filippo Ganna as the favourites for Olympic gold in the time trial. This seemed to irk Evenepoel, who is the current world time trial champion, having beaten Ganna and Tarling in Glasgow last year. “I have already proven enough that I can beat anyone, so why not on Saturday?” he retorted. “If my legs have recovered well, a lot is possible. I just have to see how the day goes. If I really get beaten on my numbers, on the values, then it will be like that. Maybe we can use the ‘bigger engine’ that you have after a Grand Tour. The course is not too technical and that plays into our hands. Then you can use your endurance more. I came out of the Tour with a good feeling.”
Van Aert’s Focus
Van Aert used the Tour de France to rebuild his form after a terrible crash in the spring. He won the time trial stage at the 2022 Tour de France and was a close second to Ganna in the 2022 world time trial championships but has lost ground in recent years. He finished fifth in the 2023 world championships, 1:37 down on Evenepoel.
Van Aert fractured several ribs, his collarbone, and sternum in a high-speed crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen at the end of March. He is more focused on the road race on August 3. “I feel good at the moment. The Tour is in my legs, but I am confident that I will be good on Saturday. I definitely needed the Tour to take a step forward,” Van Aert said. “I was able to ride the last days of the Tour in a different way than usual. I had little to gain and my mind was already in Paris.”
He added, “My experience has taught me that it is better if you can prepare yourself 100 percent. In that respect, the Tour is a disadvantage. But for the road race, I needed this Tour. It may sound unambitious, but the goal is to ride a time trial that I can be happy and proud of. I hope to finish as close as possible to the medals. Who knows, I might finish behind the three favourites and still be satisfied.”
Main photo credit: Getty