19-year-old neo-pro Remco Evenepoel piling up victories
Our fellow countryman Remco Evenepoel from the Deceuninck-Quick Step team is truly made from the stuff of legends. In one week, he has won the top classic Clásica San Sebastián and the European Time Trial Championship for pros in Alkmaar.
His performance in San Sebastián, his very first major one-day course, has made him the youngest ever winner of a WorldTour competition. He passed the finish line solo. His superb talent also left the rest far behind at the EC time trials in Alkmaar, Netherlands. The cyclists were presented with a 22.4km flat track there. Evenepoel was averaging almost 60kph in the first section, albeit with a tailwind for the most part. His team-mate Kasper Asgreen drew ahead by 10 seconds at the mid-point. That meant the first two podium places were already in the bag. In the second section, a good deal trickier, Asgreen had lost ground by 18 seconds at the end of the race.
Nonetheless, the victory at Alkmaar came with a bitter-sweet after-taste. Evenepoel dedicated it to two other members of his generation who lost their lives: Bjorg Lambrecht and Stef Loos. The first of these passed away in August from a severe fall in Poland, while the second died in March after a collision during a race for espoirs in Dottignies, Hainaut.
The gold in Alkmaar will grant the speed demon his ticket to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, while he will be competing for the world time trial title in Yorkshire in September.