Does Evenepoel’s frustration also have a positive side? Thomas Dekker thinks so: "That was smart"

“I rode into a pothole and my saddle dropped a little,” Evenepoel explained after the road race about the first bike change. "That meant I couldn't sit properly on it anymore, which caused a nasty feeling in my hamstrings a little later. When Tadej Pogacar attacked, and I knew that was going to happen, I got cramps and could barely turn the pedals."

A second bike change followed later, accompanied by the necessary frustration. “I switched to the next bike, but again I had the feeling that my saddle wasn't completely straight. That caused me pain in my lower back.” His mechanic refuted that. “We measured it three times, but there was nothing wrong,” he said.

Later, there was a third bike change. “In my opinion, that was the right choice. It immediately felt better. But I saw the gap ahead as I crossed the finish line and thought, 'Why should I continue?' I really had to dig deep.”

Mentally, it was difficult for Evenepoel, and Dekker could see the Belgian's frustration. How this is dealt with differs in Slovenia, the Dutchman explains in the podcast Live Slow, Ride Fast. “Pogacar is Slovenia's most important sports figure, but the Slovenians are a bit more level-headed about it than the seven million Flemish people.”

According to Dekker, Evenepoel has “a slight problem with his anger,” although there is also a flip side to that. “On the other hand, it has also brought him this far. He performs precisely because of that anger and resentment.” For example, after changing bikes twice. "He then held back a little so he could go one more time. Before that, it had been around a minute, but when he started, it was already 1:20. That was smart."

In an ideal scenario, Evenepoel would have dropped Ben Healy and Mattias Skjelmose a little earlier. “He should have ridden them off at speed, so that they simply couldn't keep up, but Healy and Skjelmose were also just outstanding. The only difference without them would have been that Evenepoel could have ridden on his own and not been annoyed by anything, because that's what he clearly does,” Dekker saw the frustration again.

Because it's clear that Healy and Skjelmose didn't do as much work in the chase for Pogacar as Evenepoel did. “Every time he comes off the front, you can see he's irritated. Respect to Healy and Skjelmose, because if I were them, I wouldn't have ridden with him if he behaved like that. I would have said, Go ahead, Remco. You want to be world champion, third place is fine with me.”

All in all, it was a frustrating day for Evenepoel. “This was his big goal, and we all know what he's like. Just like we all know what someone like Max Verstappen is like,” Dekker compares him to the F1 star. "He also drove like a madman, and he still does when he has to. You can't change someone's character. In certain situations, you remain the same person, and the same discomforts surface in your head. That's just the way it is with these kinds of guys."