I’m talking of course about Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), who crashed into the door of a van on December 3, breaking a rib, his right shoulder blade, and his right hand, bruising both his lungs and damaging a nerve in his shoulder. If that sounds serious, it was. It was so serious and the recovery so difficult that last year’s double Olympics champion described it in a social media post as “the hardest battle of my life so far” – which is saying a lot since he came close to suffering career-ending injuries in the 2020 Il Lombardia, when he crashed into a stone bridge at the end of a high-speed descent and fell into a ravine.
Looking ahead to his first competitive race in more than five months, Friday’s La Flèche Brabançonne, he wrote, “Finally, my comeback week has arrived. After days, weeks, and months of waiting and waiting, I can finally look toward to my first races. The way to where I am now has been very hard and challenging. Definitely the hardest battle of my life so far. Mentally and physically, I can honestly say that I have been under the ground and really doubted a lot of my future. Loads of tears and frustration were present in our life.”
He went on to thank his wife Oumi Rayane and credited her with keeping him from abandoning the sport. “I just want to tell, that without you, I would probably have stopped my career,” he wrote. “That is from where you helped me crawling back up. I can only say that I love you so much and thank you for who you are. You are the most beautiful person (inside and outside) in the whole universe. And I am so incredibly proud to be your husband and to be able to fight for us and our future.”
Evenepoel has always worn his heart on his sleeve, for better or worse, and to an extent that distinguishes him from his peers. Even when there is no drama in a race, the 25-year-old Belgian sometimes creates drama almost out of nothing via his impromptu reactions to a fellow rider’s refusal to cooperate or a dog crossing the road. He is passionate about what and who he loves. We missed him.
“Every day, you came up with a lesson,” he wrote, still addressing his wife. “You have been teaching me so much stuff, on all aspects in life! How to get through hard periods, how to stay focussed, how to be happy while it is difficult. We had and will still have loads of prayers together, which is such an incredible thing you taught me. And which is such an incredible feeling to share with you!”
He went on to also thank his parents “for always being there for me. And helping me with whatever it can be!” and his medical staff: “THANK YOU. We came from far back, but we made it… again.”
After Friday’s race, Evenepoel is scheduled to ride in the Ardennes Classics – the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, La Flèche Wallonne the following Wednesday and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on April 27. Then, two days after the Liège, he will line up for the six-stage Tour de Romandie. He is clearly in a hurry to get his racing legs back.
In all three Classics Evenepoel will face off against Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates–XRG). In normal times that would be a mouth-watering series of superstar battles, almost on a par with van der Poel vs. Pogačar. But this is not a normal time because Evenepoel is recovering from serious injuries. It takes riders a long time to reach optimal fitness after such a hard crash and long convalescence. Just look at Wout van Aert, who is still looking for his best form after sustaining a bad knee injury in last year’s Vuelta.
In addition, Evenepoel is targeting not the Classics, but the Tour de France. Which is too bad because I think he is, or can be, a Classics rider on a par with van der Poel and Pogačar. But I doubt if he will ever beat the Slovenian in the Tour. Perhaps, if he comes close to his best form in July, he can finish ahead of two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike), who currently has his own injury problems, and perhaps he’ll win the Giro one day and the Vuelta again. But the Tour? Not as long as Pogačar is riding it – and you know that he will ride it until he has won it a record six times.
But I would dearly love to see Remco at his best go up against Pogačar and van der Poel in a Monument such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which Evenepoel has won twice. They met in the 2023 edition of the race, but the Slovenian crashed and had to abandon. Still, Evenepoel is a remarkable athlete and may surprise us all in one of the upcoming races. I’m rooting for him. A sport can never have too many bona fide superstars.
