Remco Evenepoel won a thrilling and chaotic Olympic road race on the streets of Paris to complete a famous double after claiming gold in the time trial a week ago. A week before that, he was standing on the podium of the Tour de France. Those three things should not be possible by one rider in one summer, but Evenepoel is exceptional.
With 30km to go, the Belgian decided he’d had enough of waiting and blasted off into the distance leaving world-class riders including his main rival, Mathieu van der Poel, behind. He sped up to the breakaway leaders and rode through them, dropping them one by one as tried in vain to cling on to his wheel. It had been a tactical road race; Evenepoel turned it into a 45-minute time-trial, knowing no one could live with him.
There was some late drama when his rear tyre punctured with 3km to go. In an incredible scene, Evenepoel stood on a narrow road next to his busted bike, surrounded by thick waves of fans while he screamed at a mechanic in the distance to hurry up and bring him a new one. After what seemed like an eternity, finally it arrived, and he got the message that his lead was still a healthy minute.
When he reached the finish line he hopped off his bike and threw his arms out wide. Standing under the Eiffel Tower, it will be one of the iconic images that endures long after his remarkable career is over. It was a symbol of his dominance; the Eiffel Tower could have laid down on its side and still not touched his nearest rival.
Behind him, France secured an unlikely double in Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte. Madouas, the French national road race champion, had clung on gamely as Evenepoel obliterated the field and he was the last rider to be dropped, with 15km remaining of the Montmartre circuit that staged the finale of the race. Tom Pidcock, who won mountain bike gold for Britain this week, finished 13th, crossing the line alongside the world champion Van der Poel.
No one could live with Evenepoel. Aged 24, he has already won one of cycling’s three grand tours, the Vuelta a Espana, and stages at all three. He has won world titles in the road race (2022) and the time trial (2023). He has won two of cycling’s five monument races and it is not unfathomable that he might one day complete the set, something only three riders have ever done. One of those is the great Eddy Merckx, the fellow Belgian Evenepoel is so often compared to, and with good reason.
Olympic men's road race
1. Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) 6:19:342. Valentin Madouas (France) at 1 min 11 sec3. Christophe Laporte (France) at 1:164. Attila Valter (Hungary)5. Toms Skujins (Latvia)6. Marco Haller (Austria)7. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland)8. Jan Tratnik (Slovenia)9. Matteo Jorgenson (USA)10. Ben Healy (Ireland) at 1:20
After a relatively sedate first 200km to the longest road race in Olympic history, at 273km, it sparked to life when the Irishman Ben Healy attacked alongside Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko. Their move set off numerous counters in the bunch and, with small four-rider teams and no race radio, there was an edge of chaos to the peloton.
Evenepoel’s first surge came with 67km to go and it shattered the peloton behind him, forcing many to ride fast through a feed zone and miss valuable resources. But he soon let up and Healy and Lutsenko were allowed to stay 40 seconds clear.
Then came a key move. Madous and a few others – Fred Wright (Great Britain), Michael Woods (Canada), Nils Politt (Germany), Stefan Kung (Switzerland) and Marco Haller (Austria) – raced away from the main bunch and caught up with Healy and Lutsenko while Evenepoel and Belgian teammate Wout van Aert missed the moment, as did Dutchman Van der Poel.
Evenepoel decided enough was enough. The rest tried to follow his attack but soon he had bridged over to the leaders and he hit the front on a sharp climb. Behind him, a string of high-quality riders stood, pumping their pedals, tongues lolling while Evenepoel sat in his seat seemingly oblivious to the pain, with all the serenity of a man who didn’t know his hat was on fire.
Madouas clung on valiantly to his wheel, understandably refusing to share the workload with a frustrated Evenepoel as they led the race. The Frenchman wouldn’t, and he probably couldn’t, eventually falling away too. Back down the road, Van der Poel tried to surge but even his hardest effort did not reduce Evenepoel’s by-now huge advantage. Even a puncture could not stop him.
The rider who had never raced in France before this year capped an extraordinary month with a second gold medal. He is the first man to win both races in the same Olympics. The World Championships are next, and his season could yet get sweeter.
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