{"id":514729,"date":"2026-04-05T19:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/514729\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:42:08","slug":"compared-to-mathieu-and-tadej-for-a-very-long-time-i-was-equal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/514729\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCompared to Mathieu and Tadej\u2026 for a very long time I was equal\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u201cFor a very long time I was equal\u201dEvenepoel pointed to the repeated, short accelerations as the key difference, despite feeling on terms with his rivals across much of the race. \u201cI felt compared to Mathieu and Tadej that my really short explosive efforts are still not at the same level,\u201d he said to Cycling Pro Net post-race<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s the only point where they were stronger than me… For a very long time, I was equal to them in between the climbs, but in those moments, they made the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

That assessment was reflected on the road. Evenepoel repeatedly closed gaps and limited losses when the race stretched out, but each sharp acceleration on the climbs cost him a few metres that eventually became decisive.<\/p>\n

When Pogacar made his race-winning move, and Van der Poel followed, Evenepoel was left chasing, unable to quite bridge back despite several determined efforts on the flat and in the transitions between climbs.<\/p>\n

A debut that matched expectations<\/p>\n

The foundation for that performance was laid earlier in the race, with Evenepoel highlighting the work done by his team to position him before the key sectors. \u201cWhat the team did to bring me into position before the Eikenberg and also the Molenberg was amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was really hectic, but I think we managed very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after, however, the selection was dictated purely by legs. \u201cOnce the race opened up, the legs decided, and I think I just finished in the place that I deserved today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That meant third place on debut, behind Pogacar and Van der Poel, in a race where positioning, resilience and repeated efforts all played a role in shaping the outcome.<\/p>\n

Room to grow for future editions<\/p>\n

Despite the podium, Evenepoel was clear about where the gap lies and how it might be addressed in future editions. \u201cI hope so,\u201d he said when asked if focusing more on the Classics could close the difference. \u201cThat would be good. The luxury is that if you focus on the Tour, there is some space in between where you could focus on the Classics. Maybe that\u2019s where we will go next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, his first Tour of Flanders<\/a> delivered both a result and a benchmark. Matching the very best for long stretches of the race, Evenepoel left with a podium and a clearer picture of what it will take to go one step further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cFor a very long time I was equal\u201dEvenepoel pointed to the repeated, short accelerations as the key…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,99800,7133,101,8782,110664,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-514729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","10":"tag-remco-evenepoel","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tadej-pogacar","13":"tag-tour-of-flanders","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}