Eddy Merckx says that if Belgium have one leader for World Championships Evenepoel should not ride

Eddy Merckx has said that he doesn't believe Remco Evenepoel should not be riding the road race at the World Championships if Wout van Aert is the sole team leader, as he "mainly rides for himself."

The Belgian legend has been critical of the home team selection for the men's road race, after it was made clear Van Aert would be the stand alone leader for the team on the roads of Flanders.

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When asked if a sole leader is the right approach for the team, Merckx told Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab): "At the moment yes, but that is certainly not always the case. If two riders stand out in advance, you can hardly leave the second one at home,

"If there really is only one leader, you shouldn't take Evenepoel with you. He mainly drives for himself, we saw that at the Olympics.

"In Tokyo I didn't think the selection was well made. Too many men were not in shape: Greg Van Avermaet had a hard time in the Tour de France, Mauri Vansevenant is good but still so young,... Van Aert was too much alone in
the final."

Merckx spoke about other nations as well as Belgium who have a great chance to maybe beat Van Aert.

"It makes sense that he (Van Aert) is the leader. And Jasper Stuyven also seems to be very strong. But the Belgians are not alone, are they? There will be many candidates on this course: Caleb Ewan, Julian Alaphilippe, Tom Pidcock, they all count. And start chasing everything as a Belgian team."

Merckx referenced how Van Aert being watched at the Olympics was like himself in the 1968 and 1972 World Championships in Imola and Gap, where he was marked out by team-mates in the break and the Italians in the bunch, seeing him miss out on the medals.

The men's elite road race starts in the city of Antwerp before making its way over to the finish town of Leuven to take on two circuits, one in the town and another named the 'Flandrien circuit' making the route 268.3km.