"He still has ten years for that."
Good morning,
These are today's quotes and interviews worth your time.
Stood out to me today: "When we came up the climb this third last time, I was just like, fuck this shit. Now I try to attack and see how far I can go."
¡Vamos!
🎤 INTERESTING INTERVIEWS
"Maybe I gave my team car another heart attack."
Lorena Wiebes on nearly celebrating too early — again
It was almost a rerun. In the 2024 Amstel Gold Race, Lorena Wiebes celebrated before the line and Marianne Vos came through to beat her. Yesterday in In Flanders Fields, she very nearly wrote the same story. As she told Sporza, "Maybe I gave my team car another heart attack. I was maybe celebrating a little too early again, but it was enough."
"I started the sprint at 300 meters from the finish and scared a few people. I could have started later and celebrated later."
What made the win different was how it was set up. As a pure sprinter, Wiebes forced the decisive split herself on the Kemmelberg. "I felt I had good legs and I thought: why don't I set the pace on the Kemmel myself? I could go faster, so why not? We rode away in a strong group and everyone worked together. UAE attacked afterwards, which made sense, but I could still sprint." She let herself enjoy it: "It's great to win from a breakaway for once."
On Fleur Moors, who came charging hard: "She rode incredibly strongly. It's great that she gets to stand on the podium."
"It was a bit of a gamble."
Jasper Philipsen on racing calmer, trusting new teammates, and why Paris-Roubaix is harder to win
The plan was clear, even if the outcome was never guaranteed. Mathieu van der Poel at the front forcing the race, Jasper Philipsen waiting for a sprint. As Philipsen told WielerFlits, "With Mathieu at the front, it was the ideal situation for us. We could just follow along and see what happened up there. Racing with Mathieu always takes some of the pressure off. It gives added reassurance in different situations, and it meant we had the race under control."
Still, the sprint itself was a gamble. Setting up the finale with Florian Sénéchal and Jonas Geens, both new to Alpecin-Premier Tech, Philipsen needed to trust riders he hadn't raced with before. "It was a bit of a gamble, but you have to trust these guys to do their job a hundred percent, and that's what they did. I knew they had the power, but everything still has to click. I think they did exactly what we expected of them."
On the quieter approach to racing: "I knew this was a race I could win on paper. But I also knew from the past that I didn't always have my best legs in the sprint here because I burned too much energy on the climbs. So I tried to be calmer and more relaxed and save my energy. With Mathieu in the team, you have that option."
Asked whether In Flanders Fields is harder to win than Paris-Roubaix: "I think Roubaix is a race where anything can happen, so yes. It's easier to win in Wevelgem, because I've now won it and I still haven't won Roubaix. But we'll see if I can ever win that one too."
"When Brennan was 17, younger teammates called him 'dad.'"
Giles Pidcock on Matthew Brennan: the crash, the coeliac diagnosis, and the Visma | Lease a Bike fit
Matthew Brennan already has a Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne win this season. In time he's expected to be Visma | Lease a Bike's Classics leader. What shaped him into this rider starts well before the WorldTour. Giles Pidcock, the father of Tom Pidcock, and manager of British Continental team Fensham Howes-MAS Design, coached Brennan as a teenager. As he told L'Equipe, one particular moment revealed what Brennan was made of: "I remember one race in particular. He crashed on a cobbled sector and had to stay on the ground for at least five minutes because his leg hurt too much. But in the end he got back on his bike and managed to rejoin the peloton after about thirty kilometers. It was brilliant. You learn a lot about a rider in that kind of situation."
For a long time, Brennan's development stalled inexplicably. Eventually, he was diagnosed with coeliac disease. "So he was racing without energy and still performing well," Pidcock explained. "Then we saw him take a big step forward." Pidcock describes the rider in precise terms: "He's a little bull who likes to push big gears, but not at a high cadence."
The maturity was visible early. When Brennan was 17, younger teammates called him "dad." Pidcock: "He was the sensitive, exemplary guy, the leader who gave advice. I remember long trips with him sitting in the front and us talking about everything — politics, economics, the world... He was always curious about why things are the way they are. I think that trait fits perfectly with the Visma model, the scientific, prescriptive approach."
"A fully fit Evenepoel would have been able to stay with Vingegaard"
Klaas Lodewyck and Ralph Denk on Remco Evenepoel, the Ronde van Vlaanderen that won't happen, and the crash that left everything unresolved
Remco Evenepoel will not start the Ronde van Vlaanderen this Sunday. The plan was discussed within Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe over the winter. Evenepoel wanted it. The question, as HLN reports, is who isn't ready for that move yet. "He is new to the team. So in this first year we're taking a conservative approach to get to know each other as best we can. We're sticking to that," said Ralph Denk, the team's general manager.
Denk didn't completely shut the door on the future: "Sure, all of Belgium would love to see Remco racing in the biggest and most important race in the country. I'm no exception. But it has to be at the right moment. Remco is only 26 — he still has ten years for that."
The crash in the Volta a Catalunya loomed over the whole conversation. DS Klaas Lodewyck is convinced the crash cost Evenepoel the race. "All the data showed that a fully fit Evenepoel would have been able to stay with Vingegaard," he said, adding: "He's been dealing with setback after setback for several years, which inevitably leads to that inconsistency in his Grand Tour results."
Lodewyck's conclusion, caught between frustration and optimism: "All the data reassures us that he really can make a difference. If Remco hadn't crashed here and had finished the race unscathed, we'd be telling a very different story. But he can keep his ambitions alive."
"I'm convinced Mick can do exactly what I did in the Omloop. It's only a matter of time."
Tim and Mick van Dijke on growing up in Zeeland mud, training with Van der Poel, and dreaming without limits
Tim and Mick van Dijke grew up on their parents' farm in Noord-Beveland, in the Dutch province of Zeeland. As toddlers they rode small bikes straight through the muddy backyard. As Mick told NOS: "As fast as possible through it. You'd only really ridden hard if you had mud on the top tube. Brilliant." Tim: "That's what it's like, playing in the Zeeland clay where we grew up."
This winter, the twin brothers joined Mathieu van der Poel's training group in Spain for the first time. Tim: "A golden combination: having fun and training incredibly hard. And not losing yourself in details that don't really matter. The only thing I did was eat, train, sleep. As few distractions as possible. It's not that hard to get better — you just have to make the right choices."
He also put his finger on what had held him back before: "In previous years I trained hard too, but then you'd suddenly be caught in a snowstorm or hailstorm. You'd spend 45 minutes every day getting kit on and off. So much energy wasted on stuff like that."
Their spring campaign has borne fruit. A second place in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad behind Mathieu van der Poel sent Tim's confidence through the roof. "You always dream of winning those races and being part of them. Then you're not just training with a dream in mind, but actually preparing to win them. It's confirmation that in the coming years you should aim for nothing less than winning a Classic."
On the twin dynamic in racing: Tim is more explosive, Mick excels over longer distances. But Tim sees no ceiling: "I'm convinced Mick can do exactly what I did in the Omloop. It's only a matter of time."
The dreams they're chasing are simple and specific. Mick: "Winning Paris-Roubaix." Tim: "The Ronde van Vlaanderen would be great too."
🏆 THE SERGE BAGUET AWARD
"When we came up the climb this third-to-last time, I was just like, fuck this shit. Now I try to attack and see how far I can go."
— Tobias Svarre speaks in unfiltered terms about the moment he decided to attack in the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya, Cycling Pro Net
Wonder what The Serge Baguet Award is all about? Check it out here.
💬 QUICK QUOTES
"Those power numbers — a horse would get the hiccups from that. It's beautiful that he reaches that kind of level." — Tim van Dijke on the power data Mathieu van der Poel released after the E3 Saxo Classic, which showed a 90-minute peak of 446W, Sporza
"Ina[-Yoko Teutenberg, DS] told me in the meeting I needed to be in this attack, so on the climb I was thinking, 'you need to be in this attack, or Ina will be angry'. And I did it." — Fleur Moors on how she got into the decisive breakaway at In Flanders Fields, as told to CyclingNews
"Yeah, initially we were working well together, but after Ypres, Mathieu wasn't really riding full gas anymore — he decided to play it tactically. And when you then see Jasper win, sure, you can understand the tactic, but it's still frustrating for me." — Wout van Aert on his breakaway with Mathieu van der Poel at In Flanders Fields, WielerFlits
"I said quite quickly today on the radio that I didn't feel well recovered, so I think I did a defensive race, just following and doing what was necessary, not too much." — Mathieu van der Poel after In Flanders Fields, Daniel Benson Substack
"When I got there, the doubt started creeping in: should I immediately sprint for the podium or play for the win? That doubt is still in my head afterwards, actually." — Alec Segaert on the moment he rejoined Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert in the closing kilometers at In Flanders Fields, Sporza
"We actually talked a couple of teams together before the last Kemmelberg and said, let's try and stay together, and then we go straight away to the front and just do everything we can. So we are not as stupid as we look." — Tobias Lund Andresen on the coordinated chase at In Flanders Fields, WielerFlits
"What the f*ck, man! You can at least brake a little. You just pushed me into the barriers. I was in Philipsen's wheel, you didn't hold your line." — Jordi Meeus in a heated exchange with Christophe Laporte after In Flanders Fields, Sporza
"I had a flat on the Plugstreets and had to swap bikes with Bert Van Lerberghe. I started getting pain in my legs because his position on the bike is different from mine. Eventually I managed to get back on my own bike. Just before the Kemmelberg I rejoined, but I couldn't get well positioned and my race was over." — Paul Magnier explaining his day at In Flanders Fields, Sporza
"I actually think he can improve quite a lot. We know Jonas — when he gets the chance to spend some time on the sofa after this, he'll get a really good boost in form." — Jesper Mørkøv, sports director at Team Visma | Lease a Bike, on Jonas Vingegaard following his victory at the Volta a Catalunya, TV2
"This winter I came close to an unwanted retirement. Unibet gave me a lifeline. And they became part of my story, because this winter we were in it together, and they told me, 'Clément, don't give up' — and it was really hard. So inevitably, in those final kilometers, that was all I could think about." — Clément Venturini after winning La Roue Tourangelle, Cyclism'Actu Tv
"I think about winning every day and that's all I want to do." — Brady Gilmore after his first WorldTour stage win at the Volta a Catalunya, Cyclism'Actu TV
"A lot of critics always say Remco is not a team player, but I saw the complete opposite." — Ralph Denk, general manager of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Het Nieuwsblad
"The Remco we know is above all someone who's always having fun. At the dinner table he's the life of the party, always cracking jokes. If Remco can play a prank on David, his carer, he won't hold back. Always laughing. He's just a really great guy." — Dario Kloeck, Remco Evenepoel's cousin and mechanic, HLN
"I was really happy in my old team too, but at the moment I'm in love with my team." — Tobias Lund Andresen on moving from Picnic PostNL to Decathlon CMA CGM, Daniel Benson Substack
That's it for today. See you tomorrow 👋
Jay