Remco Evenepoel 'sick from the effort' after 'stressy' moment in drama-filled road race finale at Paris 2024
Published 03/08/2024 at 18:39 GMT+1
Remco Evenepoel revealed that he was "so proud" to complete an Olympic road cycling clean sweep, adding gold in the road race to his victory in the individual time trial last weekend. The 25-year-old said that he felt "sick" from the effort and the late puncture that almost cost him an historic double, adding that he knew his celebration on the line "would be a great picture".
Evenepoel 'so proud - it's history' after securing double gold with road race glory
Video credit: TNT Sports
Remco Evenepoel said he felt “sick from the effort” that was required to become the first man to ever win an Olympic road cycling double.
The Belgian followed up his victory in the men’s individual time trial with a dominant display in the road race, kicking with a move that the likes of Mathieu van der Poel or Mads Pedersen couldn’t track with 38 kilometres to go, before dropping breakaway partner Valentin Madouas with 15 kilometres to the line.
Not even a puncture four kilometres out could hold the 25-year-old back. He added a second Olympic gold to a palmares that includes 2022’s World Championships and Vuelta a Espana.
Speaking to Eurosport's Adam Blythe at the line, the Belgian admitted that the incident had caused him to panic that his dreams of an historic Olympic double might be slipping through his hands.
“You’re never sure enough and I felt Madouas’ legs were getting empty. I knew the kicker where I dropped him was perfect for me and from there on it was just pushing, pushing, pushing, to the line,” he said.
“I really feel sick from the effort, especially because of that stressy moment with about 4km to go, getting a puncture.
“I had to change bike and the car wasn’t ready but I had enough time.
“It was a pretty hard day out there. I'm so proud to be doing this and to be the first person to do the double, it’s history.”
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'An iconic image' - Evenepoel with memorable celebration after sealing double gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Evenepoel also admitted that he had visualised his victory celebration - standing next to his bike and lifting his arms above his head with the Eiffel Tower in the background to create what is set to become an iconic image in cycling history.
“I started the year with this celebration at the line,” he said. “I knew it would be a great picture with the background which is why I did this today.”
Blythe went on to describe the Belgian as “a force to be reckoned with”, adding that the win was “remarkable”.
“Unexpectedly, not one rider was able to follow him [Remco] it was that good an attack,” he said. “We all know how big cycling is in Belgium, if you’ve been there, you will understand it. For this man to come third in his first Tour de France, to come here and win the time trial and then win the road race like that, I can’t even begin to understand what he’s feeling like. It’s just remarkable.
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“It's hard to put into words how difficult that ride was today, bar Pogacar. But even Pogacar would’ve found it difficult to deal with that today. Remco Evenepoel is just a force to be reckoned with.”
Eurosport's Robbie McEwen added that it had been a “sublime display” by Evenepoel’s squad, with one of the pre-race favourites Wout van Aert sacrificing his own ambitions to support his team-mate.
“It’s disappointment for Van der Poel, he tried at the moments we thought he would. He was perfectly marked by Wout van Aert. This has been a sublime display by the Belgians,” said McEwan.
“I would’ve said [Valentin] Madouas was the third string of their bow after Laporte and Alaphillipe.
"He was quite incredible but there was nothing he could do against the power of Remco Evenepoel today.”
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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