Evenepoel's celebration in Figueira Champions Classic inspired by tennis player: "Had been on my mind for a while"

Man, oh man, what a start to 2024 Remco Evenepoel is having! The Belgian champion was immediately on point in the very first race day of the season at the Figueira Champions Classic, saying goodbye to the rest of the peloton when he still had a whopping fifty kilometers to go to the finish. The rest of the riders came in almost two minutes later and were simply not in the finish picture.

"A good time trial to start the year with," Evenepoel said, referring to his solo at VTM NEWS. "The acceleration was a spur of the moment decision, as I started to have fewer and fewer teammates around me. It was a powerful attack. The feeling was good. It's important to start the season like this."

During the first local loop, the Belgian formation kept the reins tight without causing too much damage, but during the second passage, many riders were suffering. Louis Vervaeke and James Knox in particular, with Evenepoel on their wheel, tore the peloton apart, following which the master himself blasted away from everyone on the steep Enforca Caes. In the background, cooperation was lacking, while Evenepoel still had fifty kilometers to complete solo.

Evenepoel's celebration inspired by tennis player

"I immediately had a serious gap. That's a good sign, and I was able to keep it up. Now, the goal is to maintain this form."

After the finish, with the crowd applauding loudly in the background, Evenepoel made sort of a victory lap. For him, his very first race day of the season immediately turned into a true triumph. The Belgian champion eventually arrived solo in Figueira da Foz with a lead of a minute and a half. Marius Mayrhofer, representing Tudor, returned from the background, but had to concede in the sprint against Braet, Velasco and Boven.

Evenepoel's celebration was especially notable. "No, I wasn't making a fictitious phone call to someone. It's based on the celebration of a tennis player (Ben Shelton, ed.). I saw that celebration and really liked it. I had been playing with the idea of doing that celebration for a while."