How Remco Evenepoel made history in 2024

For Belgium, 2024 was a year of unforgettable sporting moments. Belga takes a closer look at five Belgian athletes who surpassed all expectations and made their mark on the global stage. Today, we focus on cyclist Remco Evenepoel.

2023 was a complicated year for Remco Evenepoel. Having won the Vuelta d'Espana and the world championship the year before, he set his sights on the Giro d'Italia. But after a promising start, he was forced to pull out due to a Covid-19 infection. He also failed in his attempt to defend his Vuelta title, finishing in 12th place.

So Evenepoel began 2024 with some trepidation. Not only had he confirmed his long-awaited debut at the Tour de France, the world's biggest cycling race, but he would also be trying to win his first medal at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Bad start to the season

Unfortunately, his 2024 began just as his 2023 ended. During April's Tour of the Basque Country, he was involved in a horrific crash during stage 4, which left a dozen cyclists injured. Six riders were taken to hospital, including Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, who suffered a broken collarbone and a collapsed lung.

Evenepoel suffered a broken collarbone and shoulder blade, which upset his schedule for the spring classics. He had hoped to compete in one-day races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Some even doubted that he would make it in time for the start of the Tour de France.

The crash also created uncertainty in Evenepoel's mind. "When he started training again, there were doubts," his coach, David Geeroms, told La Derniere Heure. "During his first training camp in May, things didn't go as he wanted them to. Of course, he is used to always being good. So he felt a bit lost."

"He is used to always being good. So he felt a bit lost."

Impressive Tour debut

But Evenepoel managed to pull through and recover in time for his Tour debut, where he wrote his first piece of history.

Stage 7 was the first time trial of the competition, Evenepoel's speciality. Tadej Pogacar looked untouchable in France, but the Belgian beat him by 12 seconds and join the select group of riders who have won a stage in all three Grand Tours. He finished the Tour in third place, a very impressive result for a debutant.

But that was not even his best performance in France that year. A few weeks later the Paris Olympics were to be held. With Pogacar withdrawing after a falling out with the Slovenian cycling team, many predicted Belgian Olympic success. But no one could have predicted the extent to which Evenepoel would dominate the event.

The time trial was the first cycling event on the agenda. It came down to a duel between Evenepoel and former world champion Filippo Ganna. Evenepoel's 14-second advantage won him gold, his first Olympic medal.

Two gold medals

But that wasn't enough for the ever-hungry Evenepoel. With the road race still to come, he had the chance to do something no one had ever done before: win both cycling events at the same Olympic Games. Geeroms says this opportunity pushed him on: "Remco always wants to make history. It's in his DNA."

"Remco always wants to make history. It's in his DNA"

He dominated the event, won gold, and stepped off his bike at the finish line to pose in front of the Eiffel Tower, immortalising his historic achievement. A second world time trial title in Zurich in September would be the proverbial cherry on top of Evenepoel's historic season.

In cycling, however, fortunes can change in the blink of an eye. In December, Evenepoel crashed into the open door of a postal van and suffered fractures to his rib, hand and right shoulder blade. This has once again thrown his schedule for next season into disarray. But the Olympic champion has proved that he is more than capable of working his way back to the top.

^{#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM}