{"id":779894,"date":"2026-09-23T11:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779894\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:02:12","slug":"maximise-belgiums-chances-not-remcos-or-wouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779894\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMaximise Belgium\u2019s chances. Not Remco\u2019s or Wout\u2019s\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBelgium – Elite men’s road raceRemco EvenepoelWout van AertTiesj BenootQuinten HermansThibau NysAlec SegaertMaxim Van GilsGianni Vermeersch\u201cI want to maximise Belgium\u2019s chances. Not Remco\u2019s chances or Wout\u2019s chances,\u201d national coach Serge Pauwels told RTBF.<\/a> \u201cSo it is about combining our strengths and making sure we can play both cards. Maybe not at the same time, but in any case making sure they do not race against each other.\u201dBelgium have carried two leaders before<\/p>\n

Evenepoel and Van Aert have already shared responsibility at major championships. The build-up to Wollongong in 2022 was dominated by questions over Belgium\u2019s two-leader setup, particularly after the tension that followed the previous year\u2019s Worlds in Flanders. Evenepoel eventually got himself into the decisive move and rode away to the rainbow jersey, while Van Aert remained protected behind.<\/p>\n

Two years later in Paris, Belgium again carried both men into the decisive phase of the Olympic road race. Van Aert responded when Mathieu van der Poel attacked on Montmartre, while Evenepoel later escaped and rode away to gold.<\/p>\n

Between them, Evenepoel and Van Aert have already collected four elite road Worlds medals, including Evenepoel\u2019s 2022 rainbow jersey.<\/p>\n

Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert – Elite Road World Championships<\/a> recordYearRemco EvenepoelWout van Aert20202nd202162nd11th20221st – World champion4th202325th2nd20245th20252nd<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is important for us is that we have two cards to play,\u201d Pauwels said. \u201cThat is our advantage over the other nations. It creates a little pressure, of course, but we are also ready to play our role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Del Toro, Seixas and Van der Poel arrive in form<\/p>\n

Isaac Del Toro won the GP Montreal ahead of Paul Seixas earlier this month, while Mathieu van der Poel used the Tour de Luxembourg for his final race preparation before travelling to Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that we are one of the favourite nations, but I think there are other countries as well,\u201d Pauwels said. \u201cWe saw Del Toro going very well at the Grand Prix de Montreal. Seixas is in great form. And we will also have Van der Poel, who is in good shape too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seixas followed his second place at the GP Montreal with bronze in the World Championships time trial. Evenepoel won that race by 57 seconds over Filippo Ganna to secure his fourth successive rainbow jersey against the clock.<\/p>\n

The elite men face 273.7 kilometres and 3,803 metres of climbing on Sunday, with 12 laps of the Mount Royal circuit and repeated ascents of Camillien-Houde and Polytechnique before the finish on Avenue du Parc.<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s six support riders face an important early role<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race will become very important once we arrive on the circuit in the centre of Montreal,\u201d Pauwels said. \u201cWe will really need the other six teammates as well before our leaders can play their cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benoot and Vermeersch bring considerable experience from the biggest one-day races, while Van Gils and Nys give Belgium further options if moves begin before either leader wants to commit. Segaert and Hermans complete the group around them.<\/p>\n

Van Aert arrives with three weeks of Vuelta racing in his legs, while Evenepoel has prepared through Quebec, Montreal and the Worlds time trial.<\/p>\n

Pogacar\u2019s absence removes the rider who won the previous two World Championships road races and dictated much of the racing around him.<\/p>\n

Belgium will instead start Sunday with a former world champion in Evenepoel, a two-time Worlds silver medallist in Van Aert and six riders tasked with getting both men onto the Mount Royal circuit in position to use those cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Belgium – Elite men’s road raceRemco EvenepoelWout van AertTiesj BenootQuinten HermansThibau NysAlec SegaertMaxim Van GilsGianni Vermeersch\u201cI want…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,7133,169563,101,56,54,55,49085,8783],"class_list":["post-779894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-remco-evenepoel","tag-serge-pauwels","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-world-championships","tag-wout-van-aert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779894","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=779894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}