At 22, Belgian Remco Evenepoel became world cycling champion on Sunday September 25 in Wollongong, Australia.

The Flemish offers his country its first world title for ten years after having already become, two weeks ago on the Vuelta, the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour since 1978.

Remco Evenepoel won solo with a 2 min 21 sec lead over the first peloton regulated by Christophe Laporte, after 266.9 km of a race disputed under a bright sun and at the end of a raid of more than thirty kilometers.

"I'm super happy. I dreamed of being world champion. A monument, a classic, a Grand Tour, the World Cup ...: I won everything this year, it's incredible", reacted the one who also won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in the spring and the Classica San Sebastian this summer.

The Belgian succeeds Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, his teammate at Quick-Step for the year, who had won the last two editions but could not join the fight for the top places this time.

"For me, it's a mix of lots of emotions. I had taken the time to imagine myself without a shirt next week. It will make me appreciate the moments I had with this shirt even more," said commented "Alaf", who warmly congratulated his successor - "the strongest today" - on arrival.

Abandonment of Mathieu van der Poel

The race was also marked by the early abandonment of Mathieu van der Poel, one of the great favorites but who had no more strength after about thirty kilometers, after being arrested by the police and having spent part of night at the police station.

The Dutchman is accused of pushing two teenage girls who were preventing him from sleeping in the hallway of his hotel room.

Taken to the police station and charged with two cases of "assault", he is due to appear in an Australian court on Tuesday.

Remco Evenepoel made the difference 35 kilometers from the finish by breaking out of a group of 25 riders who had taken the lead and were about two minutes ahead of the pack of the main favourites.

Very restless since the start of the stage, impressively powerful, Evenepoel was only accompanied by the Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko, whom he then dropped.

"I felt I was the strongest, there was no time to waste on such a circuit. Afterwards, I kept pushing," explained Evenepoel.

Revenge of Belgium

Switched to time trial mode, the bronze medalist in last Sunday's "chrono" has continued to extend his lead to earn the right to savor his exploit for a long time.

He crossed the line with his finger on his mouth, as if to silence the critics, many in his country.

For Belgium, it is indeed a brilliant revenge on last year, when the team had liquefied at home under the pressure and the rivalry between Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert.

The other great Flemish leader, fourth on Sunday, will therefore have to wait at least another year to hope to win the rainbow jersey that makes him dream.

"Today we ran as a team, it was for him or for me. The attack from afar paid off, we deserve it," commented Evenpoel.

The French, who had animated the whole start of the race and had three riders in the leading group (Bardet, Sivakov, Pacher), did not manage to come back to Evenepoel but saw their efforts rewarded by the silver medal for Christophe The door.

"When I crossed the line, I didn't really know where I was (...). We can be really satisfied. Everything was not perfect, but Remco was really the strongest today" , insisted the rider of the Jumbo-Visma.

With AFP

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