‘He Felt Really Guilty’: Worlds Defeat Had Bigger Impact than Believed on Evenepoel

The huge roar Remco Evenepoel let out when the photo finish result was confirmed said it all: winning the European road race championship was a massive release.

Second in the Tour de France, first in the GP Cycliste de Quebec and first in the world TT championships saw Evenepoel line out in the worlds road race as a big favorite. That hope unraveled with a curiously subdued performance and a distant 12th place.

Missing out on the win hurt, but so too letting down the national team and the Belgian supporters. He was billed beforehand as one of the main contenders and his compatriots worked very hard to put him in the position to win.

Not delivering on that was hard to take but, until Sunday, it was something he had played down.

“It was honestly a really tough week for me after the deception [disappointment] of the worlds,” Evenepoel said shortly after being confirmed as the new European champion. “It was playing more in my head than I have been showing, so it is a big relief to be back on a good level today and to complete my championship jerseys. It feels amazing.”

Indeed, the 26-year-old looked to have the weight of the world lift off his mind, something his wife Oumi confirmed.

“He likes to pretend to be tougher than he is, but he felt very guilty towards his teammates, the federation and the Belgian fans,” she told VTM News on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m extra happy that he can take home that jersey, the only one he missed.”

Evenepoel didn’t have it easy in the race. The Belgian team did incredible work to set things up for him and paved the way for a huge attack the penultimate time up the climb.

He blasted clear with Giulio Ciccone for company, but then hit the deck on a tight uphill curve.

“I went a bit too fast in the corner and I just slipped away,” he said Sunday afternoon, referring to his front wheel. “I think there I could have gone, but in the end we stayed calm and we came back to the plan. Then I put in an attack just before the descent and then I was with Cicco in the front.”

‘A really tough week mentally’

Getting back to Ciccone was crucial but, in the end, the Italian did very little of the work. He had learned his teammate Christian Scaroni was chasing alone and that meant he further pulled back on any collaboration. However he did finally do a turn close to the finish after both the Belgian and the Italian team cars pulled alongside to advise their riders.

There were no race radios allowed and so speaking directly to the team managers had extra importance.

Belgian team chief Serge Pauwels did communicate Evenepoel; what did he say to him?

“That the gap with Scaroni was 50 seconds, that he should try and back off a little bit in the last kilometer, that it was safe to do the sprint,” he answered. “Because we knew of course that Ciccone wasn’t working any more.

“I hoped that even if it worked a little bit then it was maybe enough, because the difference in the end wasn’t that big.”

That’s certainly the case: Ciccone rounded the final bend in a much better way and got the jump on his rival, with Evenepoel approximately three lengths back and chasing desperately.

He closed and closed, and won the race with a much better lunge for the line. The difference?

According to HLN, it was just .00028 of a second.

The official result came through soon afterward and the explosion of sound from Evenepoel and his team showed what it meant.

“Honestly, I felt I was really coming over him,” said Evenepoel. “I thought that I was going to win it, but you never know. I think the images were really clear, the big relief that I felt and how proud I am to take the victory today.

“Like I said, it was a really tough week mentally to recover from the deception and to put a deception for my country on the world championships. I hope that I made everyone proud today.”

He did, but his fans are going to have to make do with the road race as his sole European title this time around. He had never won that particular contest, other than as a junior, but he does have two past Euro TT titles to his credit.

A third would be almost guaranteed if he competed, given his form in winning the world championship TT.

However that’s not going to happen.

‘We can celebrate big time’

Evenepoel is fast approaching the end of his season. He’s never won Il Lombardia, with big rival Tadej Pogačar taking the past five editions. He was however second in 2024 and 2025 and, with Pogačar absent due to injury, will fancy his chances.

Because of that, he has taken the big decision to give up the chance of winning another TT title.

“No, no, I am going to focus on Lombardia now,” he said, when asked if he’d be lining out in the time trial on Wednesday.

It’s a brave and somewhat risky decision to make but taking the road race title for the first time has given him the result he was really chasing.

It’s also a huge reassurance following his dejection in the Canadian worlds.

“I am going to celebrate tonight because it is a special one,” he smiled.

“Like I said, now I won all the championships in pro cycling, so I think this one we can celebrate big time.”

It is, and even more so after last weekend didn’t go to plan.

“I’m happy for him, because otherwise I had to comfort him again,” his wife said, smiling.