A perfect race, the perfect terrain, and a perfect team strategy delivered Belgian Remco Evenepoel to a historic gold medal in the Paris Olympics men’s road race. With the victory, Evenepoel became the first male rider to win both road events at the Olympic Games. Leontien Zijlaard van Moorsel of the Netherlands is the only other athlete to do so, in Sydney in 2000.
But Evenepoel’s road race win came with one heart-stopping moment when, with 3.8km to go, he suffered a puncture. Waving frantically for his team car, Evenepoel believed his medal hopes could have been over when he was within minutes of celebrating in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
The bike change he received courtesy of the Belgian mechanic was fast enough that Evenepoel still had 1:11 at the finish line. “We did it as smooth as possible, but it was maybe an extra spice on the victory,” he concluded.
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