Laurens ten Dam labels Evenepoel 'vulnerable ' after Lombardy performance: 'He puts on weight quickly'

It was Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe that set the pace for the European champion for much of the day. In the final stretch, he was set up by a superb move from Giulio Pellizzari, but it was Seixas who immediately pulled away from Evenepoel. The Frenchman rode solo to an impressive victory , becoming the youngest winner in the history of Il Lombardia.

Laurens ten Dam has nothing but praise for Seixas.

“You almost start to take for granted what that guy can do with his legs,” he says on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast. “But of course, it’s not normal. To dominate that race like that, even with other contenders in the mix. Five-star favorite Remco Evenepoel had his teammate Pellizzari ride at the front until he couldn’t go any further. That’s when Seixas thought: ‘Hold my beer.’”

The fact that Evenepoel couldn’t keep up was a bit unexpected after his victory at the European Cycling Championships. But Ten Dam notes that he wasn’t quite in top form.

“He’s just a few kilos heavier than he was in the Tour. Climbing doesn’t come very naturally to him. You can see that here, too. Both at the World Championships and here on the longer climbs, he really struggles. At the European Championships, he was still able to fake it—he could survive on his power output. But even there, he didn’t manage to break away from Ciccone.”

According to the coach of the Dutch women’s national team, it’s clear that the Belgian can only perform at his best on climbs if he’s able to prepare for them. If he’s not in top form, it’s clearly evident. “He’s still vulnerable on climbs, unless he follows a full training regimen for a few months. But it’s not as if he can maintain that for a few months. His body is built for muscle gain—he puts on weight quickly.”

Isaac del Toro also disappointed, at Lombardy despite being one of the top favourites to win in Italy. While those two struggled, Seixas flew to a spectacular victory.

Of course, it was a victory in which Pogačar didn’t even start. But after the young Frenchman’s triumphant ride, some buzz began to build. Could this Seixas keep up with Pogačar?

As for ten Dam, it doesn’t really matter. “If he follows Seixas, he’ll beat him in the sprint too,” he points out.

The Dutchman certainly found Seixas impressive, but he says we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. “If Tadej gets back to his old form, he’ll obviously still be the one to beat in Lombardy.”