Evenepoel wins post-Tour de France criterium in Aalst, ready for next challenge: 'Still too deeply focused'

Just one day after the Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel already had his next goal on the cycling calendar in mind. The Belgian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe was honored along with his entire family on Monday evening in Aalst, but the race around the church— which Evenepoel won—wasn’t just a celebration of his second-place finish in the Tour de France.

Evenepoel’s parents, his wife Oumi, his press officer Gabriele, and his support staff and mechanic accompanied him to Aalst, where the Belgian naturally received all the attention following a successful Tour de France. During the race, he won two stages and finished behind Tadej Pogacar as “best of the rest” on the podium in Paris. It was his best performance ever in the Tour.

The last time Evenepoel competed in Aalst, he won—just as he did on Monday. But the Red Bull team leader will be hoping above all that the competitive drive he feels after the Tour de France will help him just as much as it did in 2019. Back then, he raced the Clásica de San Sebastián the weekend after the Tour and won. He now has that Spanish race on his calendar for Saturday, August 1.

"This seemed like a unique opportunity and a great incentive to be honored as the Tour runner-up in my hometown," Evenepoel told HLN about his dual motivation for traveling to Aalst. "It actually fits well into my schedule. This way, I can stay somewhat active leading up to Saturday. It’ll let me get my legs moving at very high speeds."

It’s typical of Evenepoel the athlete, who did celebrate with the entire Red Bull team in Paris on Sunday evening, citing “sponsor obligations” and “food and drinks.” He was in bed by 2:30 a.m. But just one day later, it was back to business. “Two hours at full throttle” in Aalst—even after three grueling weeks, his legs were still up for it.

In San Sebastián, Evenepoel wants to take advantage of the well-known supercompensation effect. “July was a wonderful month and really flew by. But it all still needs to sink in a bit—perhaps because I’m still too deeply focused on Saturday right now,” he said meaningfully on Monday. “Keep my feet on the ground. Enjoy this moment, but then look ahead and get back to working really hard.”