After three days in hell in the Pyrenees, Remco Evenepoel threw the in the towel on Saturday during this 14th stage of the Tour de France, after being a distance at the start of the ascent of the Tourmalet. An abandonment that does not surprise the coach of Belgium.
The Pyrenean tryptic will have got the better of Remco Evenepoel. After suffering Thursday in Hautacam and then experienced a nightmare on Friday during the time trial between Loudenvielle and Peyragudes, the Belgian abandoned this Saturday during the 14th infernal stage. If four difficulties were on the program to join Luchon-Superbagnères from Pau, the Sudal-Quick Step training runner abandoned from the start of the first climb of the day, that of the Color of Tourmalet, when he had just been distanced.
For the coach of Belgium, this mix is due to the truncated preparation of the 25 -year -old runner. “Everything is based on the lack of solid foundations because of the accident he had this winter. There are no miracles after three months of inactivity,” said Serge Pauwels in Sporza. “This is linked to the mitochondria, the ‘electric power plants’ of our organism. The more we train intensively, the more they are boosted. Without training, we cannot compensate them.”
At the beginning of December 2024, Remco Evenepoel had been the victim of a serious accident when he trained alone in the northwest of Brussels. He could not avoid a car from the Belgian Post, whose factor had suddenly opened the door in her way. A heavy fall that deprived him of bicycle for two months, and competition for four months.
“Finishing the tour in anonymity is not his motivation”
The Belgian, who was climbed on the third step of the podium of the Grande Boucle last year, had taken the start this year in Lille with great ambitions. “For Remco, finishing the tour or running in anonymity for the third week is not his motivation. He also finds it difficult to change CAP mentally. It is therefore logical that he is now withdrawing,” Pauwels continued.
The Belgian coach also believes that his two previous difficult days necessarily shot him slowly. “We run with our heads and legs, of course. His first week was good but what we have seen in the past two days was less positive. With his disappointment during the time trial, it was difficult to overthrow the steam and be super motivated the next day.”