Soudal-QuickStep coach Koen Pelgrim has said that Remco Evenepoel‘s initial target of the World Championships time trial on Sunday will also serve as a general reference point for how he can fare in this year’s battles for the rainbow jerseys.
The defending TT champion, and now with the Olympic time trial gold as a fresh addition to his palmares, Evenepoel is set to take part in Sunday’s race against the clock as a leading favourite.
In a lengthy interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Pelgrim warned how defending champion Evenepoel will face tough rivals on Sunday in the battle to renew his 2023 title.
However, Evenepoel’s post-Olympic build-up ended with a massive seven-hour training ride on Thursday, taking in 260.74 kilometres and nearly 3,600 metres of vertical climbing altitude. Pelgrim said he has “every confidence” that the Belgian will be at a top level in the World Championships.
“We will get an indication of on Sunday in the time trial what that is worth across the board,” Pelgrim said.
“It is difficult to estimate in advance, because it also depends on his form on the day and I don’t know how strong guys like Filippo Ganna (Italy) and Josh Tarling (GB) will be. On paper, Stefan Küng (Switzerland) will also be a tough competitor.”
Regarding the road race, Evenepoel will face challengers as difficult as Tadej Pogačar, about whom Pelgrim joked: “Apparently that boy can ride a bike really fast.”
Belgian humour apart, he added, “Well, we know that Tadej Pogacar will be a very tough customer. Especially on such a tough course. But we can kick back with a lot of clichés about that, too, like a race actually needing to be ridden.”
“Also, that there is not much more you can do than prepare yourself as well as possible to be able to ride as hard as possible.”
Evenepoel has had a steady build-up to the Worlds, with a few early dips in condition, followed by increasingly promising performances in training in Spain.
But Pelgrim pointed out that it was all but inevitable that given the drop in stress levels after Paris that Evenepoel should suffer a drop in condition, saying that when he returned to training on August 13, the start was not straightforward.
“Even without getting sick, that decompression would have had its effect. As an athlete you are so focused, so motivated, draining your body,” he said. “You don’t allow for that accumulating fatigue and increasing stress. When that all suddenly disappears, you feel it even worse. And you ‘fall’ into a hole.”
However, after skipping the Europeans but taking part in the week-long Tour of Britain in a support role for his teammates, Evenepoel is now very much on the right track, Pelgrim added.
“Things are going well. This period in Spain went much smoother than the previous one. Remco handled the training sessions excellently. You can tell from his values
that he is improving.”
Evenepoel and Belgian co-star Lotte Kopecky are set to give a pre-Worlds’ press conference later on Friday.
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