Van der Poel’s victory gesture a coincidence? Definitely not, it was a birthday gift for Evenepoel: "Call received, bro!"

Someone has his birthday, hurrah, hurrah, and you can tell: that's Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian cyclist was allowed to blow out a quarter of a century of candles today. In those 25 years on the planet, the current world and Olympic time trial champion has achieved a lot. Evenepoel himself celebrates by saying, "Coming back soon."

Still, Evenepoel has probably had better birthdays. After all, the Olympic champion is still recovering from his crash late last year. During a training ride, the Belgian collided with the door of a van. The delivery man from bpost stopped and opened his door, but Remco couldn't avoid it and crashed into it at full speed. In addition to the damage of a bicycle broken in two, he sustained a broken rib, a broken right shoulder blade, and a fractured right hand. His lungs were also bruised, and his collarbone dislocated.

Earlier this month, it was also revealed that an injured nerve would put additional pressure on him and make for a longer recovery anyway. Maybe even the Ardennes would be in danger. In short, it is not the best circumstance to celebrate your birthday. Fortunately, Evenepoel's messages filled Evenepoel's heart with enough love today.

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Van der Poel and Evenepoel fool around with each other

Thus, Evenepoel was covered in congratulations under his message on Instagram. Pogacar was among them, as was the Tour de France and the official account of the Olympics. Mama Agna shared a photo from the old days with her followers on Instagram. "A milestone reached," she wrote, referring to the 25 candles her son gets to blow out. "A day to never forget. Happy birthday, Remco. Love, mom & dad." And the team also came with a congratulatory message.

Also notable was the world cyclo-cross champion's victory gesture on Saturday in Maasmechelen. Mathieu van der Poel won impressively. He celebrated the victory with a famous gesture. He first pretended to call someone and then dialed in. "Dialed in," just like Remco Evenepoel did earlier after his victory at the Olympics. Is it a coincidence that he used the same gesture? Not!

"I congratulated Remco on his (25th) birthday this morning, and he asked me to give him this victory gesture as a present," the winner told me. "I don't know if he was watching, but he'll get it." As it turned out, Remco quickly responded, "Call received, bro." Now that the gestures are circulating, perhaps Van der Poel will ask Evenepoel for a similar gift. "I don't know that yet. I have to think about that," laughed the Dutch rider

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