Remco Evenepoel struggles at the World Championship road race, but his teammate Thibau Nys has an explanation for that

Remco Evenepoel was the clear favorite at the start of the World Cycling Championships on Sunday, but the Belgian was ultimately unable to stay with the leaders for even a moment. Teammate Thibau Nys spoke with his team leader during the race; according to Nys, Evenepoel wasn’t feeling his best.

Nys himself didn't have an ideal race either, as he ran into some bad luck. Thanks to a bike change reminiscent of cyclocross, he was able to get back on the road quickly. “First and foremost, hats off to that bike change—I’ve never seen anything like it in a road race,” the Belgian told Eurosport.

"My saddle was slipping down, so it wasn't exactly ideal to ride like that. So I went back to the car to ask if they could get a bike ready, and I was able to switch bikes on the next lap," said the Belgian rider from Lidl-Trek.

Nys had to drop out with five laps to go. “The level of competition is insane. If the race breaks out 100 kilometers from the finish and the big names go all out right away, it’s hard to do much work for your team.”

Team leaders Wout van Aert—who did launch an attack—and Evenepoel were also unable to keep up with riders including Mathieu van der Poel. “I think it was a good scenario with Wout up front, but I think he had to let go.”

"Remco wasn't feeling too well right when they left, but I told him to keep going. Because I thought everyone was already pretty much at their limit, and we'd see more 'casualties' in the last 20 kilometers," he said, encouraging Evenepoel.

"I wasn't feeling great myself, but at this point, that doesn't necessarily mean much. There have been plenty of races where he's still managed to turn things around. We'll see—it's still a long way to go, and I think everyone will be exhausted by the end but might still have a little left in the tank." However , Evenepoel struggled to turn it around.