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Remco Evenepoel blew all the peloton off his wheel Saturday and roared to emphatic solo victory in central Paris on the Olympic highway race.
Valentin Madouas (France) hung powerful for second-place after he was lone survivor of an hour-long Evenepoel onslaught on the Parisien peloton.
Christophe Laporte accomplished a sensational 2-3 for the house staff after he kicked quickest out of the primary chase group after a wild, explosive collection of circuits via downtown Paris.
U.S sensation Matteo Jorgenson seemed poised for the rostrum when he lit up a late-race scramble for third place, however he finally left Paris dissapointed with ninth.
Belgium’s “aero bullet” Evenepoel grew to become the primary rider in historical past Saturday by turning into the primary male to double gold medals within the Olympic time trial and highway race in what was the newest chapter of his gorgeous summer season.
It’s solely been two weeks for the reason that 24-year-old completed third on his Tour de France debut along with his commerce staff Soudal Fast-Step.
Remco Evenepoel
Your @Paris2024 Males’s #CyclingRoad Olympic Champion #Biking #OlympicCycling #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/PG2eXQAK0R
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) August 3, 2024
Evenepoel’s one-minute victory Saturday was emphatic and absolute, and he had time to sit down up and relish the second within the race’s iconic closing straight in entrance of the Eiffel Tower.
“Have a look at that, what a spot to win this,” Evenepoel instructed Discovery on the line, nodding again on the iron tower.
“I really feel sick from the hassle. It was a tough day. I’m so proud to win this and be the primary ever to take the double. It’s historical past, no?”
But it surely so almost all went improper Saturday for Evenepoel.
The air was almost blown out of his historic journey when he punctured whereas solo on the entrance of the race with simply 4km to go.
The 24-year-old descended right into a wild frenzy as he waited for a motorcycle change earlier than Workforce Belgium might help in what was a heart-stopper scene in downtown Paris.
“I acquired a straight puncture and needed to change bike. I feel the staff automobile wasn’t prepared for that second,” Evenepoel mentioned. “It was stress however I had time sufficient … phwah … what a day.”
SOUND ON!
Belgian chief Remco Evenepoel has a puncture inside the ultimate 4 kilometres of the lads’s highway race #BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/fxJJLKkDCP
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 3, 2024
Pre-race high favorites like Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Mads Pedersen (Denmark) each completed manner again within the chase teams.
Their Dutch and Danish groups managed a lot of the race however missed a collection of essential strikes within the closing hours of a frantic closing of the 280km slugfest.
Evenepoel’s teammate and co-favorite Wout van Aert finshed within the wheels of Van der Poel and Co. after the Belgian performed a vital position marking strikes for his race-winning comrade.
Belgium wins out in battle of ‘huge three’ nations
The Danes, Dutch, and Belgian groups muscled on the entrance of the peloton all day because it saved the race’s “doomed breakaway” on a leash.
Like anticipated, the favorites solely began revving their motors into the ultimate two hours of the 280km epic.
Ben Healy (Eire) and Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan) acquired out entrance after they opened up the motion at 90km and swept throughout to the final of the day’s break.
The twosome linked to Healy’s teammate Ryan Mullen and lasted a number of hours out entrance in anticipation of the dynamite exploding behind.
Workforce Belgium lit the fuse quickly after Healy and Lutesnko blasted away.
Tiesj Benoot, Evenepoel after which Van Aert all made stinger accelerations because the blue-clad crew tried to make racing arduous on the hills and put strain on Van der Poel’s three-rider staff.
Madouas and the classics crew goes clear
A counter-move lastly went clear on the strategy to downtown Paris and its merciless ending circuit across the kicker “wall” of Montmartre.
Madouas, Fred Wright (GB), Stefan Küng (Switzerland), Marco Haller (Austria), and Nils Politt (Germany), had been all part of an eight rider transfer that ganged collectively at round 60km to go in what was a homicide’s row of darkish horse expertise.
Crucially, not one of the huge three nations had been there.
The Dutch, Danes, and Belgians had labored on the entrance all day, however with a most of solely 4 riders per staff, the gold medal favorites gambled and saved their assets into the ultimate 60km.
Montmartre mayhem
The denouement kicked off correct on the primary of three climbs of Montmartre.
Healy shook off the pesky presence of Lutsenko and powered away solo.
Behind him, the massed Paris crowds had been handled to a major Van der Poel wattbomb. The Dutchman uncorked a trademark haymaker assault over the graceful cobblestones and initally, solely Van Aert might comply with.
Julian Alaphilippe (France), Matteo Jorgenson (USA) and Toms Skujins (Latvia) then jumped on board the “huge two” specific earlier than the transfer misplaced its fizz.
The “Evenepoel Categorical” leaves the station
However that every one proved a sideshow to Evenepoel’s predominant act.
The newly minted TT champion blazed out of the breathless peloton at 38km to go and latched throughout to the primary chase group of Madouas and Co.
Evenepoel nearly single-handedly dragged the attackers throughout to Healy and was relentless all via the ultimate, shedding riders from his wheel with each kilometer.
Madouas was final survivor to cling onto the draft of the Belgian bullet practice and the 2 motored into the ultimate 25km with a tentative 30 second hole.
Madouas clung on so long as he might, however it felt inevitable the Frenchman could be fried. Evenepoel ended Madouas’ distress on a rising drag at 15km to go as he went off in solo pusuit of Olympic gold.
Even with out race radios, it was clear for the Danes and Dutch the race was getting uncontrolled.
Van der Poel accelerated once more on the Montmartre because the race clicked into its closing 30km. Van Aert was on his wheel, however in contrast to first time round, the Belgian was there to play anchor relatively than attempt to proceed an assault.
The race bubbled right into a scorching mess within the closing 30km of racing.
Küng, Haller, Healy, Jorgenson, and Laporte led a cluster of small teams within the chase behind Evenepoel and Madouas.
Boise Excessive grad Matteo Jorgenson finishes ninth within the Olympic males’s biking highway race. He was in a big group battling for bronze down the stretch.
The highest 10 end provides to his eighth place end on the Tour de France final month #idpreps pic.twitter.com/akGqqibBvY
— Michael Lycklama (@michaellycklama) August 3, 2024
Jorgenson went on a cost when he acquired sniff of a possible podium.
The breakout north American dug deep to catch second-place Madouas, however suffered the heart-ache of ending in the back of the group within the late dash for the road.
Additional again within the group of pre-race favorites, Van Aert performed teammate primary for Evenepoel and Workforce Belgium by neutralizing each assault that moved.
Van Aert, Evenepoel and his teammates can have a lot to rejoice Saturday evening, with Evenepoel turning into the primary Belgian male to attain highway race gold since “Golden Greg” Van Avermaet in 2016.
