Stef Clement criticizes the media after Remco Evenepoel’s withdrawal: "Mathieu van der Poel might actually be the happiest Belgian in the world"

“Leaving the Tour is incredibly painful, I know that from experience,” said Clement. “Remco’s definitely dealing with something, but the two blows he took, on Hautacam and in the mountain time trial, if you then feel that leg pain coming back, like we’ve seen from him before in the Vuelta, something breaks inside him. And then it’s over.”

“That probably says something about his winning mentality too,” Clement continued. “It’s either win or go home. In the Vuelta, he once lost 18 minutes but then went on to win stages. You can’t be a bad rider and do that.”

Stef Clement also cited the constant pressure on Remco Evenepoel as a key factor in his Tour de France struggles. “He gets no peace. The entire country is chasing him all year long. When he collided with that mailman, the whole village came outside, because Remco had crashed on his golden bike.”

“It’s a shame that the entire Belgian media has him under a magnifying glass. They have a history of breaking their own riders. Arnaud De Lie is struggling under it, Evenepoel is still stringing together golden performances, but he seems to be cracking under the pressure too. And it’s nothing new, Frank Vandenbroucke was destroyed by it, and Tom Boonen nearly was as well.”

“I said it just the other day, Mathieu van der Poel is probably the happiest Belgian in the world, because he’s considered Dutch. He can live there, build his whole life in Belgium, but because he holds a Dutch passport, they give him more space than they give their own riders. It really is the best of both worlds,” Clement added. “Honestly, I do feel a bit sorry for Evenepoel.”