This summer, Remco Evenepoel achieved something no man had done before — he won a gold medal in both the time trial and the road race at the same Olympic Games. What’s more? The 24-year-old Belgian competed just six days after finishing third in his first Tour de France, cycling’s most famous race, a gruelling 21-stage slog covering over 3,000km (2,000 miles). There was fatigue in his legs, but gold on his mind.
As he crossed the finish line of last Saturday’s road race, getting off his bike to pose in front of the Eiffel Tower in central Paris, he delivered one of cycling’s most iconic images to go with his second gold medal. Still no words..
. 📷 David Gray pic.twitter.
com/RnooscunqI — Remco Evenepoel (@EvenepoelRemco) August 4, 2024 But this was a moment that he’d seen before — and a process of visualisation which started at one of his lowest ebbs, after a terrifying crash at the Italian one-day race Il Lombardia in 2020 where, while descending a hill at high speed, Evenepoel was catapulted off a bridge into a ravine. He fractured his pelvis and bruised a lung — but was fortunate it was not worse. “When I had my crash, from that moment on I really started with visualisation training,” he tells The Athletic .
“Especially to build confidence again in the descents and in cornering after that crash. He should have been racing for glory at the Belgian National Championships this afternoon, but @EvenepoelRemco has his own time trial – and knowing his a.