Despite making it clear he was here to try to win, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) said third in the Tour of Flanders was the “result we hoped for and dreamed of” as he confirmed he will be back in pursuit of greater success.
The Belgian, who started to be talked about a lot, followed the first choice as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) pushed the pace past Oude Kwaremont for second, but then pulled away from Paterberg.
The world test champion chased alone behind the leaders, keeping them very close for a long time, but every time he got close, Pogačar seemed to push the pace again, and Evenepoel could never come back.
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Evenepoel was holding off the rest of the field, including Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). Despite his strong words and big ambitions before the race, Evenepoel was clearly happy with the podium in his first start – perhaps one of the few times he will enjoy third place.
Because of the strength and ability he showed on Sunday, questions quickly turned to what Evenepoel can do in this race in the coming years, although perhaps in the future, there will be no smoke and mirrors surrounding his plans.
“Obviously, he’s never done a lumberjack race, at all, and it was an idea that we thought he could do from the beginning,” Dempster said.
“Also we wanted to do it without obstacles, and to pass Catalunya. He is in a good place, and he gave a very good performance, so I think there is definitely a good head from him in this race, considering that he made the third part at the start.”
The only lesson Red Bull mentioned as a point to be corrected was about giving more power and fuel to their rider.
Whether he will return to Flanders seemed already to be an important point – Evenepoel quickly answered when asked, and his team wants to try again – but surprisingly, he also left the door open to start Paris-Roubaix in the future.
“Yes, I will definitely come back,” he said. “[Regarding Roubaix] This year is uncertain, next year is another story. We still have a lot of time to discuss that, but for sure one day I will be there. “
Before that, however, Evenepoel will tackle three races in the Ardennes, where he can take a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title, and continue to strengthen Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Classics stock.
“When I started this role, the main thing I felt was that Classics was not a happy place for the team. [last year]and right now I think it’s a really good example of a culture that works,” Dempster said.
“The Podium of the Great Monument. Now let’s see how we can recover from this and attack the Ardennes,” Lodewyck decided.
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