As Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert entered the finishing climb of Brabantse Pijl, both were vying for what would be their first win of the season. That’s an unusual situation for these two such prolific stars to find themselves in this deep into a season. With the exception of his injury-delayed start to the 2021 season, Evenepoel has had at least three wins by this time of each year since the 2020 Covid-affected season; and the longest Van Aert has had to wait for his first win between that Covid year and now was March 24 in 2023.
Compared with their other rivals in the so-called Big Six, they’re lagging some way behind. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has picked up from where he left off last year, with five wins already, while Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has four, two of them Monuments; Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) got his account up and running last month with two stage wins and the GC at Volta a Catalunya, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) quickly picked up a couple before he picked up an injury at Paris-Nice. Whereas all of these riders have reinforced their status as among the world’s very best, both Van Aert and Evenepoel have points to prove.
Of course, both riders’ winless starts come in very different circumstances. Evenepoel’s came courtesy of not having raced at all this season, a serious crash suffered while training in early December, keeping him out until now. So serious in fact was the crash that he even admitted to having considered the possibility of retiring, while also still feeling lingering pain in his shoulder due to the nerve damage. After such bad injuries, it was unclear when — or even if — we’d see Evenepoel again attain the heights of recent years.
For Van Aert, the issue has been a result of form rather than fitness. The Belgian did not look himself at the start of the season, off the pace at the Volta ao Algarve where he failed to win a stage, and unable to cause significant damage with his attacks during Opening Weekend. Though his form did improve when it really mattered, during the Holy Week of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, he was still way off the pace set by Pogačar and Van der Poel, settling for fourth place in both. And then there was the embarrassing ending of Dwars door Vlaanderen, when, having instructed the two Visma-Lease a Bike riders with him in the five-man break that made it to the finish not to attack and leave it to him to sprint, he was stunningly defeated by Neilson Powless.
Might the horrible way that race concluded for him have been playing on Van Aert’s mind as he and Evenepoel approached the finish at Brabantse Pijl? It certainly didn’t seem so. Having successfully weathered the storms of Evenepoel’s earlier attacks (that had seen the end of their other breakaway companion, a very impressive Joseph Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech)), Van Aert was happy to back himself in a sprint again. He didn’t try an attack himself, and in the final few kilometres refused to take a turn, forcing Evenepoel to lead him out. Given his superiority as a sprinter on paper, he seemed to be perfectly poised to take the win.
But just as happened at Dwars door Vlaanderen, he was stunned in the finale, as Van Aert was unable to come around Evenepoel’s wheel in the final dash to the line. Whereas that time he suffered from cramps in the finish, on this occasion, he was simply beaten for pace, something that would have seemed unthinkable in a sprint between these two riders until recently. Maybe the serious knee injury Van Aert suffered at his Vuelta a España crash last year has affected his sprinting speed, maybe there’s another reason, or maybe he’s just on a bad run of form. Either way, Van Aert’s winless start continued for yet another race.
Another way of looking at the surprising outcome of the sprint is not to focus on Van Aert’s shortcomings, but Evenepoel’s brilliance. We’ve seen him get quicker at sprint finishes in recent years, so it’s not implausible that he has simply improved yet more. And that sprint was the cherry on the top of what was a fine performance, a miraculous instant return to form and fitness. Right from the moment he first attacked on the first of the day’s three ascents of Moskesstraat, 50km from the finish, he looked like his usual self, showing no signs of rust despite missing over six months of racing. This was vintage Evenepoel, shedding himself of the whole field bar Van Aert with his diesel attacks, and giving nobody a chance to join back up as he maintained a deadly pace.
Both riders now look ahead to the Amstel Gold Race, albeit for a different phase of their season. For Van Aert the race provides one last chance to gain that elusive win before he takes a break. Though he’ll be disappointed at how the finish panned out, he was far from bad; he was very strong in fact, and only felt defeat because of the excellence of his opponent. As for Evenepoel, he’s only just getting going and looks in great nick ahead of the Ardennes Classics, of which he will be riding all three.
Tadej Pogačar might be returning to try to spoil everyone else’s fun at Amstel Gold, but on the evidence of Friday, both Van Aert and Evenepoel could potentially follow in the footsteps of Van der Poel in the cobbled Classics and mount a challenge against him.
