"Things could change within a week": Why Dutch coach Koen Pelgrim isn’t counting his star rider Evenepoel rich against Pogacar

After Evenepoel's much-discussed withdrawal from the Tour de France, Pelgrim and his rider managed to come up with a plan to compete in the World Championships in Rwanda. A fine victory in the queen stage of the Tour of Britain was already a sign of things to come, although that victory stood in stark contrast to what Evenepoel achieved on Sunday in Kigali.

Soudal Quick-Step traveled to Rwanda with a delegation of two. Klaas Lodewyck took his place in the car behind the glorious winner, while Pelgrim took his place in the support car behind Ilan Van Wilder. The third-place finish by 25-year-old Van Wilder, who spoke afterwards of the best performance of his career, was the icing on the cake for the Dutch coach of Soudal Quick-Step.

Koen, can Remco still surprise you?
“Yes, definitely. Of course, you should never underestimate him, and you know he's capable of doing crazy things. Let me put it this way: it's not surprising when he manages to surprise you.”

The fact that he overtook Tadej Pogacar here is one for the history books.
"That difference was more than expected on this course. That's partly because Pogacar was not at his best. After the first intermediate point, we saw that Remco had a very good chance of winning, but as an Olympic and world champion, that was already clear beforehand if you do everything right.

On this course, Remco stood out on paper, along with Pogacar. He could have been right there with him if he had been at the same level as in the Tour de France."

Many riders complained that they went over the limit and that it was difficult to find a good rhythm afterwards. Knowing that Remco had such a fast start, were you afraid of that?
"Hmmm... no, not really. If the difference is small and you start fast, there is a real chance that you will still lose time. However, the 45-second difference at the intermediate point 1 means that the difference is significant. At the bottom of the first climb, we measured the time ourselves, and the difference was 15 seconds, so that means he gained another 30 seconds on that climb. That means you're outstanding."

Did Remco perform according to the calculations you made in advance?
"We didn't really want to pin down the wattages because it's such a varied course. Plus, you have to deal with the altitude and heat, so you know you won't be able to achieve the wattages you normally would. How big is that difference exactly? We had an idea, but you can never be 100 percent sure. If you let someone ride on instinct, you're closer to the truth than with numbers."

What emphasis did you place in the run-up to this World Championship in Rwanda about heat, humidity, and altitude?
"For Remco or Ilan?"

Both.
Remco was at altitude in Livigno, where he was exposed to both heat and altitude. After that, he did the Tour of Britain, where it wasn't as hot or as high. (laughs)

It was a nice stimulus in between. After that, Remco went back to Calpe, where he has his own altitude chamber and was also able to train in the heat. Ilan is naturally very good at coping with altitude, which we often observe during altitude training camps; he suffers the least of all of us. That meant he didn't need to train separately at altitude. The heat is a bit more difficult for him, so he focused more on that. He went to Gran Canaria."

Speaking of surprises...
"Absolutely. We knew it was a course that would really suit him."

It's a bit of a cliché, but Remco is, of course, leaving for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, and you're staying with Soudal Quick-Step, so does this feel like a little farewell gift?
"You want to end things on as good a note as possible together. Hopefully, this world title will be the first of many to come, right up to Lombardy. Even if there are no more, this is still a great achievement."

What do you expect from Remco in Sunday's road race?
"That will be a completely different race. Pogacar may have suffered a slight dent in his confidence, but it's a different effort anyway. The altitude will also play a role in that. I'm not sure if Pogacar has been at altitude, but his trip to Canada has included some tiring journeys. So within a week, it could be completely different, and he could be a little more recovered."