Ex-teammate says Evenepoel made the wrong call: "He also needs to be able to handle the bad times"

Evenepoel was dropped early on the Tourmalet, watching his third place in the general classification go up in smoke. Teammate Pascal Eenkhoorn tried to pull him along for a bit, but in the end, Evenepoel drifted back to the team car. There, he spoke with sports director Klaas Lodewyck and made the call to abandon the Tour.

Stybar shared his thoughts on TNT Sports. “He had Tim Merlier and Bert Van Lerberghe behind him in the grupetto. Convince him to ride with them. Don’t stop at that moment, just keep going. It’s tough, especially mentally, but you get through it. I truly believe he should have done that,” said the Czech rider.

“This is the biggest race of the year, and Remco is still a young rider. Okay, he’s already achieved incredible things, but on the other hand, the whole team has been built around him. I was there,” said Stybar, who rode for Quick Step from 2011 to 2022.

“So if he wins, everyone’s clapping for him. But he also needs to be able to handle the bad times. And now he’s giving something up. If he’s not sick, maybe he could’ve still won two stages,” Stybar added, looking ahead to the final week of the Tour de France, which still holds opportunities for breakaway specialists.