Around midnight Belgian time, at a press conference in Montreal, Remco Evenepoel turned the pressure question on its head. “I think it’s actually an advantage that we are the favourites. Who has to come in alone? Then I’d say France,” he told HLN, adding that for Seixas the race really has to blow apart to make it as hard as possible.
Paul Seixas, for his part, still sees Belgium as the big favourite on paper, with two rock-solid captains for two different terrains. Thomas Voeckler warned that it would be a mistake for anyone to focus only on Belgium.
Favourite, I know all about it. At the club, I’m favourite every Sunday on the Overijse climb, because I have the segment. And it is an advantage, Remco’s right: it’s the others who have to come and get me. I just have to turn up at twenty past nine. There’s the backpack, of course, the café stop halfway, the chap weaving about in front of me. Take off the backpack and the café: then we can talk. I’m not saying I win. I’m saying the favourite is the one they talk about at the café, and at the café, they talked about me till noon.
Wout van Aert, meanwhile, refused to say how Belgium would race, arguing that keeping their rivals guessing was their strength. And on Tadej Pogačar’s absence, he said there was no reason to celebrate: more riders would now start the race believing they could win.
The men’s race takes place on Sunday.
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
