Second overall in the Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel has given a revealing insight into the greater self-composure he has now compared to two years ago.<\/p>\n
In 2024 he rode his first Tour de France and was very emotional after taking third place overall. That contrasted with his calmer demeanor in this year\u2019s Tour, including when he finished as GC runner-up in Paris on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then it was special because it was like the first time\u2026 it was my first Tour, then I went straight away into the podium in the white jersey,\u201d Evenepoel explained on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was something that I actually did not dare to dream of at that point. And now we came into the Tour with the mindset of getting a stage and trying to step on the podium. I just felt that I was in control of myself during the whole Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team as well, we were in control of how we wanted things to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evenepoel is of course two years older now than he was when he first podiumed. Being 26 has brought maturity but so too have the tough times he has experienced along the way, including his DNF in last year\u2019s Tour.<\/p>\n
The lows have been difficult for him but they have taught him how to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already had so many setbacks in my career that I start to know how to deal with everything,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Yet there is another reason too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think also with that comes the support from home. I mean, it\u2019s not because she [his wife Oumi] is sitting here, but it\u2019s true that when I come home. we actually almost never speak about cycling. I do my trainings, but when the bike is in the garage, we are not living in a cycling world, even though everything is done for cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that this button between on and off, that we are very good to manage that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is, he says, something that in turn ensures he has the necessary composure when he really needs it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, now it was one month of Tour de France. I know that I have to be one month or even longer fully \u2018on.\u2019 Then I\u2019m also mentally fresh to do that, and it doesn\u2019t cost me any energy to keep that focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I will always be calm\u2019<\/h2>\n
Evenepoel is recognized as a very passionate individual. He has had near-meltdowns in races before; think of the Paris Olympics, when he had a puncture close to the finish while riding to a solo win.<\/p>\n
He dismounted from his bike, let it fall to the ground and began roaring at the car behind for a new bike.<\/p>\n