Tour of Flanders is a Monument among Monuments. Aside from Paris-Roubaix, it is regularly the year’s most anticipated one-day race. But, with cycling’s Big Four set to show up on the same start line for the first time in years, the usual hype has hit overdrive.
Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel are talking up Remco Evenepoel. Remco Evenepoel is talking up Remco Evenepoel. Wout van Aert is denying he’s even a threat. And Patrick Lefevere is, as usual, throwing wild haymakers from the sidelines just because he can.
A title fight turns into a cage match
Flanders was, until late this week, touted as a re-match between Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel. A title fight between cycling’s giants. That narrative was thrown into upheaval when Remco Evenepoel made his surprise announcement that he would make his Flanders debut this Sunday. In the aftermath, the media is having an absolute heyday as friendly rivalries turn heated.
Pogačar and van der Poel are both talking up Evenepoel’s chances. Van der Poel told Wielerflits Evenepoel should not be underestimated. Pogačar, told Sporza in a press conference of his own, complimented the Red Bull rider’s penchant for unpredictable, long distance attacks, saying “If you let him lead with a few seconds advantage, it might become impossible to catch him back” and calling him an “added stress factor.” Is that because, despite an underwhelming spring so far, the Belgian a legitimate threat to the two most dominant cyclists potentially of all time? Or because it takes some pressure off of each of them? Who knows. It could be both.
Remco Evenpoel, for his part, isn’t being timid about his debut at Ronde van Vlaanderen. Despite the towering stature of his competition, and their proven ability to win this race that he’s never even started, the double Olympic champion made a huge deal of his own starting announcement. With a glitzy video, complete with celebrity appearances, a surprise announcement revealing months of secret(-ish) training, the Belgian knows he has the weight of a nation riding on his result and, instead of playing that down, is leaning in. It’s thrilling stuff.
The other big Belgian, Wout van Aert, is spending his final few days before Flanders talking down his own chances. The impressive rider, with impressively bad luck with crashes and second places, is denying that he’s even part of the so-called…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…