Does an European Championship title put Evenepoel among the all-time stars? This bizarre statistic and those close to him say yes

Complete the circle, you might think? Well, Evenepoel already has quite a few successes to his name. To start ‘small’, he became Belgian road champion in 2023 and had already achieved this in the time trial in 2022 and 2025: tick one, tick two. He went one step further in 2019 when he became European time trial champion: tick thr

At the global level, the Aerobullet enjoyed some awe-inspiring successes. In 2022, he won his first rainbow jersey on the road: check, four. The following year, he won the rainbow jersey in the time trial and extended that world title twice: five, with a gold pen. Perhaps most impressive was last year's Olympic double in Paris. Time trial, check. Road race, check.

And so, there is only one box left for Evenepoel to tick: the European Road Championships. Apart from the fact that the Belgian has already won the Tour of Spain, Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice, and the Clásica San Sebastián three times, the European Road Championships are the last box left unticked on the Belgian's remarkable list of championship victories. With Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard at the start, it will certainly not be easy on Sunday.

It would be a unique achievement, but would a European Championship victory on Sunday place Evenepoel among the greatest cyclists of all time? "It's always dangerous to use the term all-time," says former national coach Sven Vanthourenhout in Het Laatste Nieuws.

The elite European Championships have not even been around for ten years, but "One can call him by far the strongest and most phenomenal in modern cycling,” says Vanthourenhout. Teammate Yves Lampaert agrees. “Remco is undoubtedly one of the best championship riders ever.”

It is mainly the pride that Evenepoel feels for Belgium that underlies this. ‘It would never occur to him to say: “Sorry, I'm not participating in the World Championships or European Championships.” Unless he is ill or injured, he will never refuse a national selection as long as he is racing," says his father Patrick.

This is evident, for example, in his enthusiastic singing of the Belgian national anthem. “It clearly means something to him. Who wouldn't be moved?” Patrick wonders aloud. If Evenepoel gets the chance to compete for Belgium, he seizes it with both hands. “At the start of the season, he always lists championship races among his major goals,” says Vanthourenhout.

“He looks forward to championships, can get himself pumped up for them, and enjoys the unique, special atmosphere that surrounds them. You can see that in his body language,” continues Vanthourenhout, who is following Evenepoel to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.

“It allows him to rise above himself, makes him another five percent stronger than he already is,” Lampaert also noticed earlier. “What applies to Pogacar in (major) tours also applies to Remco in championships and, by extension, in all classic one-day races and Monuments. Everyone likes to win titles and jerseys, but he really gets a kick out of it.”

“He loves being able to celebrate a title or medal with the people on the Grand Place in Brussels,” his (current) teammate continues. "In that sense, he never considers a royal visit and tribute to be a chore. And at the Olympic Games, he is quick to encourage other athletes on site before or after his competition. Support that he usually gets in return."