"He should just say his body is done", Eurosport analysts can't agree over Evenepoel’s Tour withdrawal

“I was really disappointed that Evenepoel dropped out, because I love the way he races,” Hermsen began his analysis in the Kop over Kop podcast. As for the reason, the Dutch commentator ventured a guess: “The problem is always that expectations are sky-high. The fact that Evenepoel lost time in stage one and couldn’t take the yellow jersey in the time trial might have gotten into his head.”

Hermsen also sees a difference compared to his rivals. “While Tadej Pogacar chooses to attract as little attention as possible and puts Tim Wellens in the polka-dot jersey, all these side issues seem to drain a huge amount of energy from Remco.” The Dutchman believes the Belgian would be better off ignoring these distractions. “In Liège, he also wanted to get in the car, but then he thought he couldn’t do that. Now he picked a moment but didn’t really dare.”

“Just go,” is Hermsen’s take. “Of course it’s tough, but the fact that he’s already worrying about everyone’s opinion if he steps off... He should just say his body is done, that his foundation is too weak, and that he had a lousy winter. There’s always so much going on around Evenepoel, and like this, you’re never going to win a grand tour,” he said firmly.

For Jeroen Vanbelleghem, his compatriot stepping off raised mostly questions. “Is racing one‑day events more his thing, or is that too easy to say now?” Bobbie Traksel thinks that goes too far, judging by his response. “We shouldn’t write him off either. He was still in the young rider’s jersey when he abandoned. Winning a grand tour is just really hard. He’s already done it at the Vuelta a Espana, and last year he finished third on the final podium at the Tour de France,” said the Dutchman.

As Stef Clement already pointed out, the pressure on Evenepoel’s shoulders is enormous, especially when it comes to winning the Tour. “If it ends here, that’s no problem at all,” says Traksel. “He became double Olympic champion last year and is a multiple world champion. We shouldn’t be too hard on him. What I love is that he dares to say what he’s aiming for. But if you then don’t do it, the backlash hits you twice as hard. He doesn’t deserve that, but it’s understandable.”

Hermsen doesn’t quite buy into that framing. “We’re not the only ones being tough, he’s too tough on himself. He sets the bar so high and wants to be closer to Pogacar and Vingegaard. When it doesn’t work, he starts getting irritated by the crowd during the time trial. That’s not where your head should be. He puts such enormous pressure on himself that it ends up sounding like we’re the ones telling him what we want to see from him,” the commentator concluded.