Finding. On Friday, Remco Evenepoel said: “If I win the Tour of Lombardy again, this is my best season ever.” Then he finished fourth. The condition is not met. I note.
I read the sentence the way one reads an article of the rulebook. It contains an “if”. An “if”, in my office, is a suspensive clause. The clause was not triggered. The sentence therefore stays pending, like a file without a stamp on my desk at the town hall.
Firstly. The points. Before the race, he had 3,136 ProCyclingStats points, his highest total. A win would have taken him to 3,411. Fourth place puts him at 3,256. The total goes up. The classification does not provide for regret, it provides for points.
Secondly. The record of the year. The Amstel Gold Race, the Clasica San Sebastian, the GP Québec, the world time trial title, the European road title. Two stages of the Tour de France and second place overall behind Tadej Pogacar. A fourth win at San Sebastian, sole record holder. The very first rider to have ticked every championship. I file each line in its column. The columns are full.
Thirdly. What is missing, according to HLN: no Monument, no Grand Tour, no world road title. I find three empty boxes. I also find that he prefers, without hesitation, the three Grand Tours to the five Monuments. He therefore knows which boxes he wants to fill.
Verdict on the race: fourth, classified. Compliant.
On the best season, I do not give a verdict. The rulebook does not measure seasons. It measures gaps, and that one is for him to put a figure on.
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
