Hincapie and Bruyneel defend Evenepoel's 3rd place at Liège, explain why he got dropped

Tadej Pogačar and Paul Seixas dominated Liège-Bastogne-Liège and put on a spectacular show on Sunday. But how good would it have been to see a third man in that mix? Remco Evenepoel, the third favourite, simply did not have the legs to match his rivals. According to Johan Bruyneel and George Hincapie, that is not as surprising as it might seem.

Evenepoel was at the front from the very first kilometre, having ridden clear in a large group. It put Pogačar under pressure, but it quickly became clear that the move was a long shot. "You're never going to get fifty men working together," Hincapie said on the THEMOVE podcast. "But it was just as hard for the men at the front as those in the peloton — you're working flat out either way."

Evenepoel had Nico Denz alongside him as a helper, but none of his other teammates were up front with him. Pogačar had almost his entire squad in attendance, and Decathlon CMA CGM were at full strength too. The break was caught before the Côte de Wanne, the climb that marks the start of the final hill sequence. Even so, Evenepoel himself said he had not wasted energy in the escape — and Bruyneel agrees.

"I'm convinced he didn't lose more energy in that break than he would have done riding in the peloton. He was relaxed, didn't have to fight for position, and INEOS were pulling for Bernal," Bruyneel explained. "I think Remco was in an armchair in that group. He was dropped on La Redoute, but that wasn't because of the break."

On the Côte de la Redoute, the Olympic champion could not hold on. He lost contact even before Pogačar launched his trademark attack, and he struggled to the summit — before managing to claw his way back to the chasing group. Despite several difficult moments, he still sprinted to third place.

But Bruyneel believes that podium flatters Evenepoel considerably — because, judging by his form on the day, he should have finished much further down. "Third place for Remco is a great result given how he was going. A lot of riders were better uphill, and La Redoute was the proof. He came over the top in fifteenth."

Evenepoel received a fair amount of criticism in the Belgian press, but fellow Belgian Bruyneel came to his rescue: "We're talking about Remco as if he failed. Seixas is already a better climber than Remco, and he's only going to get better. But let's not forget: Remco finished third at the Tour of Flanders, he won the Amstel Gold Race, and now he's third at Liège. That's not bad, is it?"

George Hincapie also had positive things to say about the Belgian rider: "He won Amstel Gold Race. And just think about mentally too. This guy's Olympic champion. He's won Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice. The fact that he still stayed there fighting for third place. Like mentally on Le Radoute, he couldn't go with the best two guys. So then a lot of guys would just say, 'F*ck it. I'm done.' Like my day is over. I'm not going to win," explained Hincapie.

"But he kept fighting. Which to me shows how strong he is mentally because he is one of the best guys in the world. Yet two guys are riding away from him, making him look like he can't go uphill. he still stayed there fighting away. I mean, the guy's a fighter and the fact that he still hung in there and got third place in that sprint, I got to say chapeau to him, even though I'm sure he wanted to win, but still very impressive week of racing for him."

Bruyneel was equally certain about the reason Evenepoel couldn't hold the wheel of Seiixas and Pogačar on La Redoute: "Yes he got dropped on La Redoute, but it's for me the reason why he got dropped is not because he was in that breakaway. For sure not.

For Bruyneel, the reason Remco was dropped couldn't be more simple: "He didn't have the legs to go with on the climb and he didn't have the legs to sit behind Seixas and Pogacar going into the climb," Bruyneel said on the podcast.

"He was six or seven places down. If he would have had the legs he would have moved up. If he would have had the legs, he would have moved straight away up. You could see already, there was room to move up. La Redoute has no secrets. If you're good, you're moving up. He just didn't have it, he had to let go."