Head coach and mechanic explain why Evenepoel's flat tire shouldn't have happened a minute earlier

Remco Evenepoel became Olympic champion on Saturday, but in the final moments, things nearly went wrong for the untouchable Belgian. He had a flat tire, had to get off his bike, and screamed his lungs out in search of a new bike. It arrived just in time.

It was reminiscent of the scenario at the World Championships in Glasgow, when Mathieu van der Poel had broken away and seemed on his way to reeling in the rainbow jersey without any problems. Until he suddenly slipped in a corner, causing the hearts of all his fans to leap into their throats. This was undoubtedly the case for team Evenepoel as well when Remco suddenly got off his bike in the last four kilometers. He seemed calm, but when the new bike took longer than he had hoped, he began to shout. "I hit a cobblestone and instantly went flat. Fortunately, the car was right behind me. At that moment, I got a bit nervous, especially because there were signs indicating I only had a 25-second lead. The situation wasn't really clear to me," the winner was able to laugh about the matter afterward.

A new bike arrived, mainly because Evenepoel had already pulled more than a minute ahead of his first chaser, meaning the Belgian car was behind him. Zooming out, Evenepoel knew he had gotten away very well, knowing that the car would have been behind the chasers if the lead had been smaller. Head coach Sven Vanthourenhout admitted to Sporza that it wasn’t easy to still be there with the car. "I was initially just glad we were there. It was super hectic to be there with the car. We had to race within the race to get there. I wanted to immediately reassure him by driving next to him and communicating his lead. Actually, the jury didn’t allow that, so maybe it will still cost me a fine."

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Belgian car just in time

Mechanic Kurt Roose confirmed the hectic situation in an interview with HLN. He was the man who gave Evenepoel a new bike. "When Remco rode away alone, we had to fight against the commissioners to negotiate getting to the front. The Italian woman who had to give us her approval was strict. We had to ask three times to drive to the front, even when Remco already had a one-minute lead, she wouldn’t relent. When she finally gave the go-ahead, there was only one point on the course where it wasn’t too narrow to pass the chasing riders. Suddenly, we saw Remco standing on the left side of the road. Before I fully realized it, Sven said two words: 'Kurt, bike.' I knew exactly what to do. I’ve installed a wheel in a precarious moment before, and Remco's bike was also the first on top of the car."

"This is something that will be shown in some documentary in twenty, thirty or forty years," Vanthourenhout further commented on Evenepoel's unique gold, as he became the first rider ever to win both the time trial and road race at the Olympics. "I am so proud of the entire team. Most of the plan was followed, although we won't deny that the group with Madouas and Healy was a threat. But the guys handled it perfectly, the execution was perfect. We knew where Remco would go. In the meeting yesterday, we agreed on who should go where, everyone knew their assignment."