Remco Evenepoel says 'everyone will ride for Wout van Aert' at World Championships in Flanders
The 21-year-old looks to be close to top fitness yet again after battling back from injury
Remco Evenepoel is fully behind the tactics of going all in for Wout van Aert at the upcoming road World Championships in Flanders, Belgium.
Evenepoel will be riding his second World Championships after competing in the Yorkshire 2019 time trial and road race, however, he missed Imola 2020 due to his injuries sustained at Il Lombardia where he fractured his pelvis.
Now the 21-year-old Deceuninck - Quick-Step star returns to the Worlds on home roads, but he comes to the road race in a support role once again.
Evenepoel spent the entirety of the race in 2019 looking after Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal), this time he will be supporting Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).
Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel said: "It's very clear that Wout is leading the way, and everything is done in function of him. But you never know with certain race situations, for example, if he has a bad day or gets into a crash. So many things can happen. But when the situation arises, everyone rides for Wout,"
Evenepoel has shown he is back to top form yet again after a superb showing at the Belgian national championships, and a defence of his Belgium Tour title started off a winning spree with the Tour of Denmark, Druivenkoers-Overijse and Brussels Classic all going his way.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
But, that form may have suffered a setback as he became ill at the recent Benelux Tour, forcing him to abandon on stage five of the race. He sees his form as still being good, though.
"It was a struggle to get the last spot, but I'm happy to be back in top shape just in time. I think I deserve my spot, but we know what we're going for."
The young Belgian is ready to switch tactics if Van Aert is in difficulty though as he has a great chance of winning himself.
"There can always be a situation that the plan can't be completed, but we're all professional enough to work out plan B and - hopefully it won't come to that - plan C as well."
The rest of the team is made up of Tiesj Benoot, Yves Lampaert, Victor Campenaerts, Jasper Stuyven, Tim Declerq and Dylan Teuns and the road race takes place on Sunday, September 26.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!
I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.
It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.
After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.
When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.
My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.
-
Small Cost, BIG Features | Is This Indoor Training Platform Worth The Switch?
icTrainer costs 9x less than the market leader but this indoor training platform is still jam packed with features
By Sponsored Published
-
Remco Evenepoel in race against time for 2025 season, will miss 'big goals' after training crash
Belgian suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and right hand after being 'doored' by a Belgian postal vehicle last week
By Adam Becket Published
-
Remco Evenepoel in race against time for 2025 season, will miss 'big goals' after training crash
Belgian suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and right hand after being 'doored' by a Belgian postal vehicle last week
By Adam Becket Published
-
Remco Evenepoel shares details of further injuries after 'scary' training ride collision with vehicle
'The comeback starts now' says double Olympic champion after undergoing surgery in Herentals on Tuesday evening
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Remco Evenepoel suffers fractured rib, shoulder blade and hand in training ride collision
Double Olympic champion collided with a Belgian postal vehicle on Tuesday morning
By Tom Thewlis Last updated
-
Remco Evenepoel hospitalised and gold S-Works snapped in two after collision with Belgian postal vehicle
'Remco has pain in his shoulder and his hand. Our doctor is working on it,' says Soudal Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tadej Pogačar storms to fourth consecutive Il Lombardia victory after 48km solo breakaway
World Champion beats Remco Evenepoel by more than three minutes after devastating attack on the Colma di Sormano
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Latvia protest against Mathieu van der Poel's World Championships result, saying he 'endangered spectators'
Latvian Cycling Federation calls on UCI to explain decision not to disqualify Dutchman who mounted pavement
By Tom Davidson Published
-
'I was pushing but I couldn't feel my legs' - GB's Oscar Onley on his breakout World Championships ride
The 21-year-old was the youngest man in the top-20 in Zürich and matched some of the big guns on his way to 16th
By Adam Becket Published
-
'It was a stupid move, but it worked' - Tadej Pogačar on his history-making World Championships ride
Welcome to the Pogačar era, where the Slovenian can attack from 100km to the line and still win. It's just starting.
By Adam Becket Published