‘I wanted to take risks’ – Remco Evenepoel admits going ‘over my limit’ as big crash hands Wout van Aert Belgian TT win

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) says he “wanted to take risks” during a bid to defend his time trial title at the Belgian Road Championships that saw him crash hard going into a corner in wet conditions.

The world champion came off his bike and fell hard while rounding a corner in the opening lap, but he recovered to finish a respectable fourth.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) took victory for the third time in his career, navigating the 41.6km course in Herzele with a time of 51:52 ahead of Alec Segaert (Lotto Dstny) and Rune Herregodts (Intermatche-Circus-Wanty).

“I turned into the corner just a little bit too fast, but I had confidence and wanted to take risks,” said Evenepoel.

“It was the corner with the least chance of falling. I maybe went a little over my limit.”

He added: “I was already 50 seconds behind at the first intermediate point. From then on, I knew that I was definitely not competing for the win.

“During the second lap they said that the podium was still there, that I was getting closer and closer. That indicates that I had good legs today. I also felt that I was going to be ready for it.”

Evenepoel was heartbreakingly forced to withdraw from the Giro d’Italia in May with Covid-19 while he held the leader’s maglia rosa.

The Belgian will not compete at the Tour de France this year, unlike winner Van Aert, who says he took some confidence from his victory.

“I felt like a fish in the water today for the first time in a long time,” Van Aert said.

“After the Tour de Suisse, I had a few days off. Yesterday I got that good feeling back.

“That’s nice, but it’s even better to see it confirmed with good results. I did that today. I came here with a goal, and I achieved it. It’s nice to be back on the top step of the podium.”

Wan Aert finished 50 seconds ahead of Segaert, while Herregodts was 1:06 back and Evenepoel was only 1:22 slower despite his crash.

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