July 20, 2024
The pair have become willing accomplices in this year’s Tour de France, brought together by a love for aggressive racing and ruthless attacks
It’s a relationship that has been blossoming ever since the Tour de France‘s Grand Départ when they praised each other for their attacking riding. The story then continued on the white roads of Troyes, where they both had sharp words for Jonas Vingegaard after he refused to get involved in their aggressive racing on the gravel climbs. In the trio of riders that make up the podium places, the Dane is the odd one out. Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar share bags of Haribos behind the Tour de France podiums, and they both believe that their way of racing bikes is the best way.
Their approach is markedly different from that of Visma-Lease a Bike who favour the strategic, methodical approach to Grand Tour victories. The contrast in mentality is clear: Vingegaard practises pragmatism and caution while Pogačar and Evenepoel have a taste for riding offensively.
The similarities between the pair is clear in both their riding styles and demeanour off the bike. Neither are afraid to speak candidly to the press, providing journalists with some punchy quotes (notably about which riders have “balls” in this year’s Tour) and neither are afraid to take some risks and attack at crucial moments. Although there is only one year between them in age, Evenepoel is in his debut Tour de France participation while Pogačar is on his way to winning his third. The UAE Team Emirates rider has clearly inspired the way Evenepoel races, and there’s a sense that it won’t be long until the Belgian can more closely challenge Pogačar for yellow.
(Photo by James Startt)
“Always when watching him [Remco] on TV, he was looking like a proper champion, he doesn’t give a shit about anyone else, he does his own thing,” Pogačar said of Evenepoel on Monday. “He was always winning everything, we never raced each other really in the last five years, and now we have finally come together in a Grand Tour and my respect has grown so much for him in this Tour. The way he is riding in the bunch, he’s not nervous, he is really respectful to everyone in the bunch. I like to race against him, he’s a super class rider.”
Evenepoel’s insatiable hunger to win is reminiscent of how Pogačar is performing in this Tour de France. Now with four…