In the City of Monuments, taking in famous sites such as Montmartre (of Amèlie fame) today saw the story of “Remco de Aalst”. Remco Evenepoel rode a perfect race and showed expert timing to make his move and secure his victory.
For a long time the race seemed to follow an age-old formula: a group of riders get away, none of whom would ever have a realistic chance of winning – today it was Achraf Ed Doghmy (Morocco), Christopher Rougier-Lagane (Mauritius), Thanakan Chaiyasombat (Thailand), Charles Kagimu (Uganda), and Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda) who took their chance of fame.
At one point they had a quarter of an hour lead over the main group (aka the peloton). Then there was a smaller group who attacked to get to them, but which reduced their advantage.
Ryan Mullen (Ireland), Elia Viviani (Italy), Gleb Syritsa (Neutral Athlete), and Georgios Bouglas (Greece) tried valiantly to get to the African leaders but the peloton started to reduce the advantage, with the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium represented at the front of the group doing the hard work.
The race ebbed and flowed with attacks and counterattacks, with one major one sticking where Ben Healy joined his compatriot Mullen, alongside the Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko. It was a move that threatened to take the victory and it was Ireland’s main tactic, with both of their riders ahead of the race early.
As the riders hit Montmartre and the finishing circuits, the race heated up, and the distance covered, already 220km (approx 136 miles), caught some riders out as fatigue set in.
Remco Evenepoel, however, is proven over this distance and although he has been criticised for his tactics (or lack thereof) in the past, he rode this masterfully.
This was almost the final evolution of Evenepoel; gone is the rider from the under-18s who would attack because he was so much better than everyone and win in spite of his tactical missteps. In his place is this version of the former PSV-youth footballer, complete with the ability to know when to attack for maximum impact.
Everyone else was throwing haymakers, trying to knock each other out. He waited, and then, when everybody was punch drunk, he attacked. He caught the leaders and rode them off his wheel. As brutal as it was inevitable at that point, he dismantled the race and there was nothing that could stop him.
Nothing, apart from a puncture with 3.5 kilometres still to ride. He frantically shouted for his mechanics to get him a bike, unaware of how much advantage he had. This was the only thing that could upset his chance of victory. He implored urgent action and when he got a new bike and was underway once more, he asked for a time check from the support vehicles, now knowing he he had a comfortable lead.
He relaxed; panic over. On he went to claim what was rightfully his – another gold medal to add to his time trial gold from last Saturday.
He has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in his native Belgium, one of cycling’s five monuments. It was only fitting that in the City of Monuments, he would take another victory that highlights what an incredible rider he is.
