Latest news with #BrabantsePijl
Gulf Today
24-04-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Today
Team Emirates' Pogacar soars to dominant victory at Fleche Wallonne
Tadej Pogacar powered up the steepest part of the final Ardennes hill Wednesday to reclaim the Fleche Wallonne classic title after a cold and rainy 205km slog over 11 climbs. With a mud-splattered face, the three-time Tour de France champion could barely raise a smile at the finish line, as plucky Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin emerged second and Briton Tom Pidcock third. The 23-year-old Vauquelin was also runner-up last year, proving he will often be a force in races culminating with a short, sharp hill. Pidcock, having quit Ineos in the close season for the second-tier Q36.5 team, can also be proud of a fine finish in a strong field. Winner of the Brabantse Pijl last Friday on his comeback from injury, Belgian hope Remco Evenepoel was right in the thick of the race before fading to ninth over the last 200m as Pogacar switched into a gear nobody else could find. More than just a warm-up race for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege raced in the same region, but 50km longer, this race runs through the Ardennes forest but over 11 of the region's steepest climbs. Pogacar, who last won at the Tour of Flanders on April 6, was clearly tired but delighted after his latest efforts. 'It's a beautiful place, but as a cyclist you don't like it so much, such a tough finish,' said the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader. 'It's a really great feeling, the weather wasn't so good but winning again is all that counts. We worked well as a team today and we'll have a similar one for Sunday at Liege,' said the 26-year-old, who won at Liege last year in the absence of the injured Evenepoel. Wednesday's race culminated with the fearsome Mur de Huy, just 1.3km in length but with gradients hitting 19 percent with an average of 9.6. Pogacar said he attacked when he saw Irishman Ben Healy, who finished fifth, draw level with him. 'I said 'Okay he looks fast'. So I accelerated and when I looked over my shoulder, no one was there. But really that's the hardest kilometre in cycling,' he added. This marked a strong return to winning form for Slovenian superstar Pogacar following two consecutive runner-up finishes in recent high-profile races. Just over a week ago, he finished second behind Mathieu van der Poel at the grueling Paris-Roubaix — a race known for its punishing cobblestones and legendary difficulty. He then came close again at the Amstel Gold Race, where he was edged out by Denmark's Mattias Skjelmose in a tightly contested finale on Sunday. For a rider of Pogacar's caliber, accustomed to standing on the top step of the podium, those near-misses served as extra motivation. His latest victory not only reaffirmed his dominance in the peloton but also sent a clear message that he's back in top form and hungry for more wins as the season progresses. Skjelmose had been highly fancied again here but the 24-year-old was one of several riders who slid out of the race on a slick corner around 40km from home on a day of unrelenting rain. His Lidl team-mate Thibau Nys had also been touted as a man who could beat Pogacar on the final climb but eventually came eighth, perhaps due to the fact Skjelmose had dropped out. A stubborn escape group clung on until the final ascent, in a sign of how little appetite there was for a long-range bid for glory from one of the race favourites. Many of Wednesday's competitors will be back in action Sunday in the same corner of the Ardennes for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 'Monument' over 252km where an escape is more likely. Agencies
Gulf Today
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Evenepoel returns with victory in Brabantse Pijl after horror crash
Remco Evenepoel said even he was surprised as he won the Brabantse Pijl one-day race on Friday in Belgium on his comeback, four months after a serious training accident. Evenepoel outsprinted fellow Belgian Wout Van Aert after the pair broke clear. 'I surprised myself. I was very fresh,' said Evenepoel. 'I'm especially pleased with my sprint. I've been working a lot on my explosiveness recently and it's paid off.' 'I felt right at home right away,' he said. 'But to beat Wout in a exceptional.' Van Aert said the better rider won. 'Remco killed me,' said Van Aert. 'It was impressive, so hard to stay in his wheel. I'm disappointed, of course. But Remco deserves his victory.' The 25-year-old Evenepoel was greeted by a huge crowd on the final circuit in the Brussels suburbs. He fired up his fans when he attacked 49 kilometres from the line with Van Aert and Briton Joseph Blackmore. The two Belgians dropped Blackmore on Hertstraat, one of the race's cobbled climbs, with 15km to go. Evenepoel's father Patrick wept at the finish line. 'Some people had doubts about his ability to return to the highest level once again. This is the best answer of all,' said Patrick Evenepoel. 'Today, I'm happy for my child, more than for the athlete.' Evenepoel, the double gold medallist in last year's Paris Olympics, tore shoulder ligaments when he crashed into the open door of a Belgian postal van in December. The injury, he said ahead of Friday's race, 'would have ended my career if I had been a tennis or basketball player'. He rode on Friday with a bandage on his right shoulder that is still causing him pain. He plans to race in the Amstel Gold Classic on Sunday when Tadej Pogacar will join the field. Evenepoel said in the pre-race press conference that his competitive spirit was reignited by watching races from his sickbed and sofa and seeing Mathieu Van der Poel win Paris-Roubaix last Sunday and Pogacar take the Tour of Flanders, also known as the Ronde, the week before. 'Pogacar is an inspiration,' Evenepoel said. 'But I have to be able to beat him. That's what my team pays me for.' 'It was amazing to see Van der Poel and Pogacar battling it out. It motivated me to push myself in training. I too want to compete at San Remo, the Ronde, and Roubaix one day,' he said. Agence France-Presse
Reuters
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Evenepoel fends off Van Aert in winning return after horror crash
April 18 (Reuters) - Remco Evenepoel made his competitive return in spectacular fashion by winning the Brabantse Pijl in Flanders on Friday, four months after suffering serious injuries in a crash. The Soudal-Quick Step rider was locked in an intense battle with compatriot Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a bike) for much of the final portion of the race, before emerging victorious in a sprint to the line. Evenepoel, a double Olympic champion, said before the race that he thought his cycling career may be over in December after he crashed into a postal vehicle's open door while he was on a training ride. The 25-year-old Belgian suffered multiple injuries, including fractures to his rib, shoulder blade and hand, and contusions to his lungs. "I really needed this race to find some answers to all the questions I had, and now I feel a big relief," Evenepoel said. "Winning this race, in a sprint against Wout, gives me a lot of confidence for the next competitions. During the race I felt that the legs were pretty good, so I decided to attack and we opened a gap. "It made us believe in our chances, and we kept going until it was just me and Wout in the closing kilometre. I felt that I was strong in the finale and gave my best there. It was a perfect day for us and it brought me a lot of satisfaction." It was Evenepoel's first win since he retained his world road time trial title in Zurich, Switzerland in September. Evenepoel will next race in the Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which he has won twice.
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Evenepoel wins on return from serious injury
Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel won on his return to action after suffering multiple bone fractures in a serious crash last months after sustaining rib, shoulder blade and hand fractures during the accident in training, the Belgian outsprinted compatriot Wout van Aert to win the Brabantse Pijl, held on the roads in the area he grew up 25-year-old also suffered lung contusions, a dislocated right clavicle and several torn ligaments after colliding with the open door of a postal on Thursday before the race, Evenepoel said his injuries "would have ended my career if I had been a tennis or basketball player".The Soudal-Quick Step rider and Visma-Lease A Bike's Van Aert attacked with just under a third of the race to go, and were soon joined by 22-year-old British rider Joe Tech rider Blackmore was dropped as Evenpoel attacked on the penultimate climb, while Portugal's Antonio Morgado won the bunch sprint to take third."I'm surprising myself. I was very fresh," said Evenepoel. "I'm especially satisfied with my sprint. Lately, I've been working a lot on my explosiveness, and it paid off."It is Evenepoel's first win since securing the second of his world time trial titles at the World Championships in Zurich in September Belgian hopes to compete in the three Ardennes classics and the Tour de Romandie in preparation for this year's Tour de won gold in the Olympic time trail and the road race at the Paris Games last also finished third overall in the Tour de France, winning the stage-seven individual time trial.
The Independent
17-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Remco Evenepoel admits he contemplated retirement after horror crash
Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel thought his cycling career may be over after his horror crash in December, he said on Thursday, a day before his comeback race in the Brabantse Pijl. The 25-year-old Belgian suffered multiple injuries in the accident, including fractures to his rib, shoulder blade and hand, contusions to his lungs, and a dislocation of his right clavicle that left the surrounding ligaments torn. He crashed into a postal vehicle's open door while he was on a training ride in Oetingen, Belgian media reported. "Of course, the injuries were quite severe," Evenepoel said in a video press conference when asked if he thought about retirement. "With my shoulder, where all the muscles, all the ligaments were destroyed, the surgery was a heavy one. "It was just a difficult period, the second time for the same shoulder in six months. So at a certain point, you start to doubt, will the shoulder be healthy again? Will it be functional again?" The Soudal-Quick Step rider, who finished third in last year's Tour de France, said he also suffered a nerve problem in his shoulder. "This one has not healed yet, so there's a part of the shoulder muscle that is not working at all for the moment. If I were a tennis, a volleyball or basketball player, my career would have been over. Luckily I'm a cyclist," he said. Evenepoel has suffered several big crashes in recent years such as at the 2020 Giro di Lombardia and when he fell in the Tour of the Basque Country, an accident also involving two-times Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard. "It's not the first big crash that I've had. Coming out of a period of off-season did not make it any easier knowing that everybody was starting to train again and I had to wait for six more weeks doing absolutely nothing," the reigning time trial world champion told reporters. Evenepoel will start the Brabantse Pijl on Friday before racing the Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which he has won twice (2022 and 2023). "I'm behind my top shape, but I'm still in a good shape. Will it be enough to beat guys like (Tom) Pidcock and (Tadej) Pogacar, who are in the shapes of their lives, I don't know," Evenepoel said. When asked if he could beat Pogacar, he said: "If I don't believe it, I won't be at the start... If I have good legs, why not."
