Evenepoel's always tense bow snapped briefly heading into the World Championship: "Remco's body gave a signal"

Cycling season runs from January through October each year, but the bow needs to be stretched a little longer for the average rider. Just relax for a while in November before working hard in December to get the best legs for the new season. Add to that some injuries and setbacks during the year, and there are only a few weeks of true rest. Remco Evenepoel found out after two gold medals at the Olympics that the bow sometimes snaps.

His coach Koen Pelgrim shares at HLN that after the Games in Paris, the still only 24-year-old Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step was dragged into a period full of celebrations, festivities, and obligations. The short break with his wife, Oumi, in Greece was insufficient to recharge the battery for what was still to come. Evenepoel wants to perform in the time trial and the road race of the World Championships in Switzerland in September. The Tour of Lombardy will follow in October.

Recovering was difficult when he arrived in Calpe, Spain, on August 13. Evenepoel got sick "because of decompression." "Even without getting sick, the decompression would have had its effect. As an athlete, you are SO focused, SO motivated, exhausting your body. And you don't allow that accumulating fatigue and increasing stress. When all that suddenly falls away, you feel that all the harder. And you fall into a hole for a while," said Pelgrim, who had to rebuild his pupil gradually. "We drew up a training plan, but we had to adjust it in response to his feelings. Certain efforts were complicated, we noticed. Things that involved a little more intensity were challenging. Remco's body signaled that he had to be careful with that."

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Evenepoel regained his legs in Spain

For that reason, Evenepoel did not have super legs from September 3 to 8 in the Tour of Britain. Get better in Britain, then continue in the Spanish sun. "Britain suited him. He worked hard - the relatively short but tough stages stimulated him. From his data output, we noticed that he recovered well daily and created a solid base to ramp up the training intensity again." That happened on the Costa Blanca "a lot behind the moped and with the time trial bike," with Mathieu van der Poel as his training partner.

The good feeling came back just in time for the World Championship. A monster ride - shared on Strava - made no secret of Evenepoel's ambitions. Pelgrim: "I am confident he will reach a good level in Zurich. What exactly is that worth at the global level? We will get an indication of that in the time trial on Saturday. It's hard to estimate in advance because it also depends on the form of the day, and I don't know how strong guys like Ganna and Tarling will come out ahead. Küng will be a tough contender, "looking ahead of the time trial on Sunday. For the road race a week later, camp-Evenepoel is keeping the pressure off somewhat. "He remains a human being, not a robot that we can adjust meticulously anytime, anywhere."