Belgian analyst José De Cauwer: "We’re not yet at the point where you’d start to doubt Pogacar"

De Cauwer also observed that the Belgians intended to challenge Pogacar with Evenepoel. “We tried to apply a system that we thought would beat him. We've seen that a few times in recent classics, such as with Visma | Lease a Bike, when they still had other riders with them.”

“Those guys were never in the picture, partly because of Pogacar, partly because of Van der Poel. They kick into higher gear on the second Oude Kwaremont, and the best riders remain. In this case, the best are Pogacar and Evenepoel,” concluded the former Belgian national coach.

"Maybe we need to think carefully about that for the future. Now we let our domestiques work in advance. Maybe we should keep our 'domestiques’ with us and hope that afterwards, if he does ride away 70 kilometers from the finish, we can still do something. Whether that will work, I don't know," he says, also searching for a solution.

"You actually have to work on the flat. You can't work uphill. That doesn't count. It's the valleys that do the trick. That's where you can close the gap. On those intermediate climbs, which were also present here, the domestiques get worn out. I don't think there's any other method for the time being," explains De Cauwer.

"What's more, Pogacar said in the interview that he was trying to keep that minute. It's incredibly impressive that he's doing it like that. Then you might think, 'Does he have anything left in the tank?' Apparently, because they're not putting any more pressure on him, we don't know if he has anything left to give. That minute is what it's all about for him. He's circling around it, closing in by five seconds, but then he takes seven more."

“He knows himself well enough, with his wattages and his heart rate. “ He knows that no one in his life has ever come closer to him when he does this or that,” De Cauwer continues. "It is and always will be Pogacar. Where has Pogacar ever failed? We are not yet at the point where you would start to doubt him."

“I also discussed it with Remco after the World Championship road race. Remco said it himself: ‘It's Pogacar, right?’ You can give him a slap around the ears, but he'll nod, and then he'll be back,” says the analyst, who hopes that Evenepoel can close the gap. “They're going into winter now. He can work on it and try to close the gap. Will he succeed? That's the million-dollar question, and it will cost even more.”