\u201cI believe I should be able to beat Poga\u010dar in Li\u00e8ge, provided that I am really in top form,\u201d he said in an interview with the Nieuwsblad Caf\u00e9 Koers\u2019 podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n The assertion is somewhat remarkable, given that each of his recent victories over the Slovenian have come in time trials.<\/p>\n The last time he prevailed in a road race was in Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge in 2023, when Evenepoel won and Poga\u010dar crashed out.<\/p>\n And you have to go back over three years to find a victory by Evenepoel when his rival finished the same event.<\/p>\n That was the 2022 road world championships, when the Belgian powered to a dramatic solo win and Poga\u010dar trailed in as part of the chasing group, 2:21 down.<\/p>\n Since then things have completely swung the other way, as shown by the latter\u2019s road wins in races such as the Tour de France, as well as his triumphs ahead of runner-up Evenepoel in this year\u2019s world and European championships.<\/p>\n Still, Evenepoel keeps the faith. He showed well against Poga\u010dar in this year\u2019s Amstel Gold Race, successfully chasing him down after the UAE rider\u2019s solo move. And while Evenepoel ultimately finished third in a sprint won by Matthias Skjelmose, he suggests that same race is probably the spring classic which most corresponds to his talents.<\/p>\n Such talk bodes well for the season ahead. It also shows that Evenepoel believes he is getting back to his best shape after a season blighted by injury and hampered by what he now thinks was a bout of depression.<\/p>\n \u2018I was in a very deep mental state\u2019 Third overall in the 2024 Tour de France, Evenepoel was motivated to have an even bigger season in 2025. However that intention suffered a serious blow last December when he was doored by a postal worker while training in Belgium.<\/p>\n He was left with extensive injuries, including fractures to two ribs, his hand and his shoulder, as well as a dislocated collarbone and bruised lung.<\/p>\n His initial assessment of the situation was very troubling.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, I was afraid my career could be over due to the physical impact on the muscles and tendons in my right shoulder,\u201d he says now.<\/p>\n \u201cThat turned out to be unfounded, but mentally that fall also had an impact. At that time, I was in a very deep mental state.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving to go through that rehabilitation during winter with its dark days and few hours of sunlight didn\u2019t make me happy. Was I depressed? That\u2019s a statement that\u2019s hard to make about yourself, but maybe unconsciously I was.<\/p>\n Evenepoel said that he spent entire days on the couch. What\u2019s more, he became irked when people called or messaged him, believing they were interfering.<\/p>\n \u201cIn response, I began to isolate myself. Answering a message also felt like too much to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortunately he said that the feeling \u201cquickly went away\u201d when he was able to once again go outside and start moving around.<\/p>\n Some lingering physical effects Evenepoel is now heading towards what is the most important year of his career. Speculation was rife in recent seasons that he was looking for a way out of his Soudal Quick-Step<\/a> team; he\u2019s now ended that contract, and will race for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe<\/a> henceforth.<\/p>\n That team has a far bigger budget than his previous setup, and will see him race alongside riders such as multiple Grand Tour winner Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d and 2025 Tour de France podium finisher Florian Lipowitz.<\/p>\n He will presumably have their support in key races next year, and also that of the rest of the team.<\/p>\n Throw in the guidance of team staff plus the Red Bull Performance Center and the scene is set for a jump in his results.<\/p>\n Last winter was a mess due to his crash. Notwithstanding that, he won the time trial at the European and world championships, and took those silver medals in the road races.<\/p>\n Presuming he doesn\u2019t have any more misfortune, he will carry a much more solid foundation into 2026 and could go on to even bigger things.<\/p>\n That\u2019s encouraging, that\u2019s motivating, but he did reveal to the Caf\u00e9 Koers\u2019 podcast that he is still carrying some effects of his crash.<\/p>\n \u201cI still find it difficult to lift heavy things with my right hand. Lifting a suitcase or taking it off the baggage belt at the airport always has to be done with my left hand now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEven taking energy bars or gels out of the back pocket of my race jersey, I can now only do with my left hand. Fortunately, I am naturally left-handed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated November 29, 2025 04:43PM Remco Evenepoel hasn\u2019t taken a road race victory ahead of Tadej Poga\u010dar since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,118060,70573,101321,54266,54267],"class_list":["post-316306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","tag-tag-remco-evenepoel","tag-tag-soudal-quick-step","tag-tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Remco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CAuldPhoto-2025-TourdeFrance-Stage12-7621.jpg\"\/)
Remco Evenepoel wasn\u2019t at his best at this year\u2019s Tour due to the injury he suffered last winter (Photo: Chris Auld) <\/p>\n
\n![\"Remco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/CAuldPhoto-2025-TourdeFrance-Stage5-ITT-5550.jpg\"\/)
Remco Evenepoel dominated the first time trial at this year\u2019s Tour (Photo: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n