Bakelants believes Evenepoel needs to take a mental step back: "Otherwise, he will be unhappy in the coming years"

Pogacar was once again in a class of his own in France, even for Evenepoel and the Belgian team. “Racing is simple when Tadej Pogacar is involved: there is very little tactics involved,” said Bakelants in his analysis for Het Laatste Nieuws. “Only the legs do the talking. The Belgians tried something; they made the race difficult, but you can't call that a fruitful tactic.”

“They attacked Pogacar early on, but that was a bit naive, to say the least. It seemed as if Serge Pauwels had learned little from the latest Tour, where Visma | Lease a Bike tried the same thing. If you make the race tough, especially on a difficult course, you mainly exhaust yourself, and in the end, Pogacar proves to be stronger. By making the race tough, you're actually helping him."

Evenepoel will be frustrated with another silver medal, his compatriot knows. "And yet Remco should be satisfied with his result: everyone ended up where they deserved to be. The fact that Evenepoel himself is also minutes ahead of the rest proves how good he is – he can be proud. I just wonder if that's the feeling that will stay with him. Knowing Remco, that won't be easy, but he has to accept it."

“If Evenepoel thinks that way, he'll be unhappy a lot in the coming years. If it happens to you once, twice, or three times, I understand that you can be frustrated. But if you keep running into the same rider, for two years now, you have to accept that he's just better at the moment.”

The current generation simply cannot compete with the world champion. “The only one who has managed to create a duel this season is van der Poel. And with the caveat that he only succeeded on his own turf: in the Flemish races and Roubaix. Or wait, I'll correct myself: Milan-Sanremo is actually more suited to Pogacar, but even there, Mathieu makes life difficult for him.”

Bakelants hopes that Evenepoel can take a step forward at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. "But I'm also starting to look at the younger generation. What Paul Seixas showed at the European Championships at the age of nineteen is super impressive. It's too early to say whether he can ever reach Pogacar's level - he'll have to work hard to reach Evenepoel's level first, after all, he finished 2'40" behind Remco."

In addition to Seixas, who took bronze in his own country among the big names, Isaac Del Toro is also someone who could threaten Pogacar in the long term, according to the Belgian. “He, too, is an incredible talent, but he also has a lot of milestones to reach. All the puzzle pieces will have to come together; only then will we see exciting duels again in the near future.”