TakeWorlds4 days ago
Evenepoel skipped the Vuelta a España entirely, banking rest and altitude work with Mathieu van der Poel for a single target: Montreal. Slovenian team doctor Krištof Knap just called Pogačar's Worlds defense "not realistic" — a scenario that suddenly makes Evenepoel's singular focus on the road race look prescient.
This wasn't opportunism. Evenepoel circled Montreal at the Red Bull-BORA team launch back in December, calling it a shot at a rare ITT-road race double, and structured his whole late summer around it instead of racing into form. He arrives off a Tour de France runner-up finish, an Amstel Gold win and a Clásica de San Sebastián title — proof the plan was already working before Pogačar's crash removed the rider whose presence, per Paul Seixas, normally dictates how everyone else races.
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