Evenepoel pushes himself and followers to the limit for "history" and "that photo", parents praise Wout, Tiesj and Jasper

"What a place to win," Evenepoel alluded to the Eiffel Tower in the flash interview. "To be honest, I feel a little sick, from the effort. It was a hard day," continued the winner of both the time trial and the road race, a unique achievement in cycling. "I'm proud, I'm the first to win the double, it's history."

Evenepoel chose an excellent moment to strike, shortly after an attempted attack by Mathieu van der Poel was neutralized. Taking off like a bullet he surprised his competitors, after which Evenepoel made the jump to the leading group. One by one, he dropped his rivals. Valentin Madouas, eventual silver winner, held on the longest. "You're never quite sure," Evenepoel said of the Frenchman. "I did notice that his legs were getting closer to empty. The climb, where I dropped him, suited me well, just riding full throttle on a heavy gear. From there it was just a matter of pushing and pushing until the finish."

"Like I said, I feel sick from the effort," Evenepoel continued. "Especially with that stressful moment four kilometers from the finish. I had a flat tire and had to change bikes. The car wasn't ready for that moment, so it was a bit stressy," he smiled with relief. "What a day." Evenepoel had the luxury of celebrating his victory at length, and he took advantage of that opportunity. He got off his bike at the finish line and lifted his bike up. "I knew what was in the background (Eiffel Tower, ed.). I wanted that picture."

Evenepoel's parents, Patrick and Agna, naturally followed their son's race with excitement. Speaking to Sporza , they expressed their gratitude to the other riders on the Belgian selection: Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven and Tiesj Benoot. "We have seen a fantastic Belgian team, both Wout, certainly Tiesj, and also Jasper. They more than did their job. They just finished it off," said Patrick Evenepoel.

For mother Agna, the tension in the closing stages was barely tolerable. "It's down to the finish line. You can see he's still got a leak, so anything can still happen. I was on the edge of my seat until the finish. Only after that was I comfortable. It's just fantastic." For this to be a successful day, however, her son did not necessarily need to win. "If any Belgian had won, it would have been successful. After all, we are here with a whole team. I also think they were the right guys. After all, we saw each of them, they did their job. We as Belgians can be more than proud, I say: party on!"

Evenepoel has been stringing together extraordinary victories in recent years. It also leaves parents amazed. "Amazed is perhaps not the right word. He likes to race. It was a goal and when he focuses, he tries to do his best," Patrick describes his son's attitude. "Everyone knows that when Remco knows his pace, he squeezes everyone out, one by one. But I think Benoot's work should not be underestimated. He rode in the lead for a hundred kilometers and kept the pace so high that the rest had to come along at full throttle."

If Benoot later reads back Patrick Evenepoel's texts, he will probably do so with a big smile. Earlier, he shared his reaction with Sporza. "I had a really good day. I had the legs to be up there and play an important role in the final, but it also spoke for itself that we had to take responsibility. That's what we did. It was definitely important not to let the group that got away just before the local lap get too far ahead," Benoot said.

After doing his job, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider passed several more riders who tried unsuccessfully to hitch their carts to the Evenepoel train in the finale. "Remco finished brilliantly. I ran into Fred Wright and Nils Politt at the end, all guys he passed. They all didn't look so good," Benoot joked. "I am very proud that I was there and that I was able to do my part."

Stuyven also appeared before the Sporza microphone. He saw a race that went according to plan. "We rode the perfect course. Remco said yesterday that he thought that was a good place to go for it. And then he does that fanatically. The realization still has to set in a bit, this is a unique experience. I'm not going to forget this anytime soon," Stuyven concluded proudly.