Remcolympics 2024: Belgian bullet train Evenepoel drops rivals one by one, Van der Poel in trouble

It has been talked about for days, weeks and months now, but the day was finally here: the Olympic road race in Paris. A special race that is held only once every four – and in this case three – years. It is even more special this time, knowing that for the first time only ninety riders are allowed to take part. No communication, a small peloton and a course where anything is possible: every reason for chaos!

Beforehand there were some hints of a race that would truly be a race from start to finish, but after Peter Sagan fired the starting gun, none of that turned out to be true. In the first meters some so-called exotics attacked and immediately got the space. The classic World Cup scenario, you could see, even with a peloton of ninety men.

In that quintet that was given all the space were Eric Manizabayo (Rwanda), Thanakhan Chaiyasombat (Thailand), Ed Dhogmy (Morocco), Christopher Rougier-Lagane (Mauritius) and Charles Kagimu (Uganda), while the Danes and the Dutch took control in the peloton. Meanwhile, there was plenty of time for fun here and there, with Van der Poel and Evenepoel, among others, chatting. 

Daan Hoole (Netherlands) and Mikkel Bjerg/Michael Morkov (Denmark) together held on to the lead of the peloton for about seventy kilometers, but they took advantage of that moment to withdraw their hand a bit, as countries such as Belgium and France were along on the luggage carrier without any effort and that wasn't directly intended. Due to this situation of desperation, the lead of the five in front increased very quickly to almost fifteen minutes.

Hoole then went for it himself, creating a new situation: that of anticipation. In doing so, the big countries kept a close eye on each other, but others were given space: Elia Viviani (Italy), Gleb Syritsa (neutral), Ryan Mullen (Ireland) and Georgios Bouglas (Greece) got a gap and were allowed to build it up to several minutes immediately. 

The pressure that the Netherlands and Denmark tried to put on the Belgians paid off: Tiesj Benoot eventually put himself in the lead on behalf of the Belgians, while the French continued to play high stakes. Still, the pace did come back in this way, so the break – and the chasers – lost several minutes again.

From then on, the situation was stable for a while. The peloton nibbled away some of the lead, while the escapees and chasers moved toward each other. Without Syritsa, the three chasers finally made the connection at 120 kilometers from the finish, but at that point the peloton was also only three minutes away from them. Everything was pretty close together, while the nervousness also increased a bit: Alex Kirsch from Luxembourg was first to the ground, partly because of this. His Swedish Lidl-Trek teammate Jakob Soderqvist brought him back.

At ninety kilometers from the finish, the game of anticipation began. Frenchman Valentin Madouas threw the baton and saw reaction from Magnus Sheffield, Ben Healy, Mattias Skjelmose, Dylan van Baarle and Jasper Stuyven, among others. By this stage, the top riders were also no longer disappearing too much from the front, as keeping their eyes open is best from those exact positions.

In the end, two riders managed to create some distance first, Irishman Ben Healy and Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko. However, due to the lack of earpieces, the still leading Mullen did not know that his leader was on the move. By the time Healy managed to make the connection, the peloton was also on the heels of the leaders.

At 75 kilometers from the finish, the Belgians showed some serious power uphill, but it did not immediately lead to differences. Evenepoel then tried to get away, but men like Christophe Laporte and Jhonatan Narváez didn't let him. On a second attempt, Matteo Jorgenson, Mads Pedersen and Alberto Bettiol responded adequately, the third time it was even the Estonian Madiks Mikhels. All eyes on Remco. 

Meanwhile, we were quietly approaching Paris and no significant things happened in the first hill zone. Just before we reached the local lap in the French capital, a strong group of sub-toppers rode off: among them Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Marco Haller (Austria), Valentin Madouas (France), Nils Politt (Germany), Fred Wright (Great Britain), Michael Woods (Canada) and the Mongolian rider Jambaljamts Sainbayar.

They rode off for one minute, which immediately forced the Belgians to post Benoot back in front. Help from the Danes was not immediately forthcoming at that point, as their leader Pedersen suffered a mechanical failure, as did Slovenian star Matej Mohoric, at a time when you would rather not have it. Just before the Rue Lepic towards Montmartre.

On that climb, Van der Poel immediately set the tone with a scorching attack, which in principle could only be answered by great rival Van Aert. In the downhill, Jorgenson, Julian Alaphilippe and Toms Skujins followed the Belgian's lead, while Healy unloaded Lutsenko at the front and continued his way through Paris solo.

Because Alaphilippe – due to the presence of Madouas in the group up front – was not riding, the collaboration was stalled and Pedersen had a chance to close the gap. Very briefly, the race seemed to pause, which Evenepoel seized as the perfect moment to deploy his full power. The compact hard rider took a lead and thundered in one go to the group of Küng, who at that point was still riding half a minute behind Healy. 

On the next uphill stretch, Evenepoel rode straight through to Healy, while the other men were dropped one by one. Van Baarle was given the thankless task of keeping the gap small in service of Van der Poel, but the unleashed Belgian just kept gaining time on everyone. He began the penultimate Montmartre stage with a 45-second lead and four men on his wheel.

There, only Madouas was able to hold Evenepoel's wheel, although he didn't seem too happy. In the background, Van der Poel immediately posted himself in the lead at the foot of the cobblestone climb to Montmartre, only to add another layer moments later. One man was able to follow the Dutchman, but that was just the man he didn't want: Van Aert, Evenepoel's compatriot.

So he stopped pushing again, giving opportunities to men ahead like Jorgenson, Pedersen, Alaphilippe, Christophe Laporte and numerous others for their pursuit of a bronze or silver medal. Meanwhile, the battle for the gold was in full swing, with the visibly suffering Madouas following in the wake of the Belgian bullet train. Fifteen kilometers from the finish, the moment arrived. Adieu Valentin, adieu tout le monde.

Evenepoel rode off from the completely overcooked Frenchman, gaining half a minute and quickly built the gap to the other favorites as well, making the final 10 kilometers more like a parade at the Montmartre, or a theater performance at the Moulin Rouge. Unleashed, this version of the Remco Evenepoelympics. At four kilometers from the end he had a flat and with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he cried out for a new bike, but that turned out to be unnecessary: the title was already truly secured.

Behind Madouas, Jorgenson and Laporte rode off from the other competitors, where Van Aert made sure that the really big contenders (Van der Poel and Pedersen) couldn't make a move anymore.