Zonneveld very critical of Evenepoel's behavior at World Championships in Rwanda: "Looking at his equipment and shifting the blame"

“He fought hard, but mainly against himself,” Zonneveld begins his analysis. The Dutchman saw that things didn't go as planned, but in the end, it wasn't too bad. “That guy is a walking soap opera. You get good times and bad times in a single race. All emotions come into play.”

Zonneveld saw Belgium take the initiative, but also saw that Evenepoel couldn't keep up at the most important moment. “First he becomes world champion, then he puts his entire team in the lead, and then he drops from Pogacar's wheel to 40th place in one kilometer on Mount Kigali...”

When riding over a pothole just before Mount Kigali, the saddle of his bike apparently dropped, causing Evenepoel to change bikes. Later, he changed bikes a second and third time, while the mechanic stated later that there was nothing wrong with the bike. "I also find his reaction striking. I think he's just thinking: f*ck you.“

Zonneveld doesn't understand the bike changes. ”He started complaining that his bike wasn't right. The mechanic says he checked everything. He said he didn't know what was wrong with the bike. That may be true, but the way Evenepoel handled it..." The Dutchman is referring to the frustration that Evenepoel displayed after the race.

Because at the second bike change, Evenepoel was pretty furious, even though, according to Zonneveld, it was the wrong decision to stop anyway. "In the juniors, you learn to keep riding as long as possible. He just wasn't covering any distance. Evenepoel is doing what every junior knows you shouldn't do... He stops and waits. With arm gestures again, that spoiled boy. It's also unfair to the mechanic.“

And so the owner of BEAT Cycling believes that there was another underlying frustration, namely, being unable to keep up with Pogacar on Mount Kigali. "It's the only effort that lasts longer than fifteen minutes; on a real climb, he gets dropped. Then he looks at his equipment and shifts the blame. Then he recovers and goes back to riding at the front.

”It's almost bipolar,“ he says in a critical tone. ”One moment, he's defeated, and he's a whining child who's crying. He was just short of stamping his feet on the side of the road. Then he gets back on his bike, gets fired up, and crushes the whole group.” Zonneveld saw the Belgian pull himself together.

The Dutchman, therefore, speaks of a “great last hour and a half.” “Then he's the only one who can keep Pogacar somewhat under control. Every time the pressure gets high, this kind of thing happens, and he acts like a toddler. As a teammate and mechanic, I would occasionally be completely fed up with him. He has a problem with setbacks, but can subsequently overcome them.”