{"id":528540,"date":"2026-04-13T13:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/528540\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:29:12","slug":"museeuw-sends-evenepoel-a-clear-reality-check-regarding-his-future-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/528540\/","title":{"rendered":"Museeuw sends Evenepoel a clear reality check regarding his future goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did great in Flanders. Third place after Pogacar and Van der Poel was really great,\u201d Museeuw explained during the interview. \u201cAnd then everybody say immediately, yeah now he has to do Roubaix.\u201d<\/p>\n

Museeuw did not completely rule out the idea of Evenepoel racing the Hell of the North at some point in his career. However, he strongly underlined the very specific and dangerous demands of the French event. For a rider who wants to compete in stage races later in the summer, taking heavy physical risks in April is not always a smart choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoubaix you have a little bit more risk,\u201d the cycling legend said about the brutal race, before adding: \u201cMaybe one day he will do Roubaix. But it\u2019s not yet the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of focusing on the rough French cobblestones right now, Museeuw knows that Evenepoel’s mind is completely focused on a much different prize. Like almost every top-level stage racer in the professional peloton, the young Belgian dreams of winning the most famous and prestigious bicycle race on the planet. \u201cIn his head he\u2019s thinking about the Tour de France,\u201d Museeuw explained about the rider’s current mindset. \u201cTo win or to be on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"mathieu<\/p>\n

Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel on the podium of the 2026 Tour of Flanders<\/p>\n

A difficult reality check against modern giantsHowever, wanting to win the Tour de France and actually being able to do it are two very different things. As a three-time Paris-Roubaix<\/a> winner who knows exactly what it takes to reach the top of the sport, Museeuw was completely honest in his assessment of Evenepoel’s chances in the big stage races. \u201cMy opinion, it will be easier to win monuments than to win the Tour de France for him,\u201d Museeuw said openly. \u201cTo win the Tour de France will be not so easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Belgian icon, the main problem for Evenepoel is not his own physical talent, but rather the incredibly high level set by the sport\u2019s most dominant Grand Tour riders. Right now, the race for the yellow jersey is completely controlled by two riders who have set a new historical standard for climbing mountains. \u201cWith Vingegaard and Pogacar\u2026 it will be complicated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Because beating those two giants in a Grand Tour is so complicated, Museeuw believes Evenepoel should seriously consider shifting his long-term focus. The older Belgian feels that Evenepoel\u2019s specific physical profile is perfectly suited to the massive one-day races.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo win monuments like Flanders, like Amstel Gold Race\u2026 he has a big chance to do that,\u201d Museeuw concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cHe did great in Flanders. Third place after Pogacar and Van der Poel was really great,\u201d Museeuw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,110329,110509,7133,101,110664,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-528540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-johan-museeuw","10":"tag-paris-roubaix","11":"tag-remco-evenepoel","12":"tag-sports","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\/528540","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=528540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}