Evenepoel loses Worlds teammate as Benoot falls ill
Remco Evenepoel already has one World Championship in the books after his dominant ride in Sunday's elite time trial race. But his bid for a double rainbow jersey with a win in next Sunday's road race took a slight hit Monday with news that teammate Tiesj Benoot is out with illness.
Benoot, one of the most experienced support riders in the sport and a veteran of seven World Championship events, is fighting an undisclosed illness but has already been ruled out of Sunday's race. Belgian national team coach Serge Pauwels has called up Louis Vervaeke as a replacement. Even without Benoot, Belgium has one the largest and deepest squads in Rwanda, with Evenepoel supported by Victor Campenaerts, Quentin Hermans, Florian Vermeersch, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Xandro Meurisse and time trial bronze medalist Ilan Van Wilder, now joined by Vervaeke.
