The 25-year-old racked up the 60th pro victory of his career after a magnificent performance
18-Apr-2025: The Remcomeback is real! The double Olympic Champion, racing for the first time in more than six months, took a phenomenal win in Brabantse Pijl and put behind one of the most difficult periods of his career. It was Soudal Quick-Step’s fourth victory at the Belgian one-day race, and at the same time, a success that confirmed Remco is on track for the Ardennes Classics, which start in just two days.
“It’s incredible! I knew in the last days that my form was pretty good, but to race from so far away and power to victory on a hard course that doesn’t suit me 100%, is something really amazing! It was a hard race, and despite the effort, I trusted my sprint. Opening my season with a victory is fantastic”, Evenepoel said right after the finish.
It was Remco’s only second participation at Brabantse Pijl – which took in a total of 21 climbs, many of which were cobbled – but that didn’t stop him from lighting up the race with 55 kilometers to go, when a massive acceleration on Holsteide led to an important selection being made. Only Joseph Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech) and Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) were able to follow, and the newly-formed trio quickly built a gap of 50 seconds.
The ever-growing chasing group managed to bring down the margin to just 33 seconds two laps from the finish, but Remco kept the pace high and on the Hertstraat he attacked, dropping Blackmore. Together with his countryman, the ITT World Champion continued to press on, widening their gap over the peloton by the time they arrived on the early slopes of the famous S-Bocht climb. Despite starting the sprint from the front, Remco held his nerve and unleashed an incredibly strong turn of legs that propelled him to an emotional victory in Overijse.
“I really needed this race to find some answers to all the questions I had, and now I feel a big relief. Winning this race, in a sprint against Wout, gives me a lot of confidence for the next appointments. During the race I felt that the legs were pretty good, so I decided to attack and we opened a gap. It made us believe in our chances, and we kept going until it was just me and Wout in the closing kilometer. I felt that I was strong in the finale and gave my best there. It was a perfect day for us and it brought me a lot of satisfaction”, Evenepoel added after taking his 60th pro win at the end of one of the most memorable Brabantse Pijl editions.
