The young Belgian prodigy Remco Evenepoel won the cycling world championship en route disputed this Sunday in Wollongong, Australia, after a solo break of more than 30 km, in front of the French Christophe Laportesecond, and from the Australian michael matthewsthird.
The 22-year-old cyclist conquered for Belgium his first world title in ten years, two weeks after winning the Back to Spainbeing the first Belgian to win a major stage race since 1978.
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Evenepoel won alone with 2 minutes and 21 seconds ahead of the first pursuit group, where the strongest was Christophe Laporte, after 266.9 kilometers of racing under a brilliant sun.
“I’m super happy. I dreamed of being world champion. A monument, a classic, a grand tour, the world championship… I’ve won everything this year, it’s incredible,” said the Belgian, who in addition to the Vuelta, won the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège in spring and the Clásica de San Sebastián in summer.
The Belgian succeeds in the winners of the World Cup road test to the French Julian Alaphilippehis training partner in Quick-Step and winner of the last two editions, who this Sunday, however, was unable to fight for the title and finished 51st.
“I feel a mixture of many emotions. I took time to imagine myself without the rainbow jersey starting next week. That will make me appreciate even more the moments I have spent with this jersey,” said the Frenchman, who congratulated on arrival effusively to his successor, “the strongest today”.
Van der Poel at the police station
This Sunday’s race was marked by the early abandonment of Mathieu van der Poel, one of the great favorites, who found himself without strength after 30 km, after being detained by the police and spending part of the night in a police station.
The Dutchman was accused of pushing two teenagers in a corridor of his hotel who prevented him from sleeping. The cyclist was taken to the police station and charged with two counts of assault, and he is due to appear in Australian court on Tuesday.
Evenepoel made the difference with 35 kilometers to go, when he broke away from a group of 25 riders who had taken the lead, two minutes ahead of the peloton.
The only one capable of following Evenepoel was the Kazakh alexey lutsenkowho was then unable to keep up with the Belgian on the penultimate climb of the Mount Pleasantt, on the street circuit of Wollongong, in New South Wales. “I felt he was the strongest, there was no time to waste on a circuit like this and I just kept pushing,” Evenpoel explained.
The keys
The Belgian, bronze medalist in the time trial last Sunday, seemed to face the clock again, continuing to increase his advantage and earning the right to fully savor his achievement.
He crossed the line with his finger over his mouth, as if he wanted to send a message to silence criticism, which is numerous in his country. For Belgium, this title is a revenge after what happened last year, when the formation collapsed away from home under the pressure of the rivalry between Evenepoel and Wout van Aert.
The other great Flemish leader, fourth on Sunday, will therefore have to wait at least another year to seek to achieve the arocíris jersey with which he continues to dream. “Today we ran as a team, it was for him or for me. The attack from afar has worked, we deserve it”, commented Evenepoel in this regard.
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World Champion!
Remco Evenepoel 🇧🇪 was the champion of the Road World Championship in the men’s elite category.
The best of the Colombians 🇨🇴 was Sergio Higuita, who finished in 31st place. pic.twitter.com/tAO9Ooip5p
– Our Sports (@nuestrosdporte2) September 25, 2022
AFP
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