Hope is one thing. But reality is another. We can hope that one man's domination could be stalled either by the nature of a course or the work of another rider/team, but reality has a habit of stomping all over optimism, as it did at the European Championship in the form of Tadej Pogačar.
And why shouldn't he? Last weekend, he reminded us (as if it was necessary) that he's on top of the world; this weekend, he showed that he is – naturally – the best in Europe too.
But the race was made by others. Team Belgium led the way with a plan, plenty of star power, and the protagonist.
In Rwanda, second-place Remco Evenepoel ended the race like a cartoon character with question marks encircling his golden helmet after hours of mechanical alarm bells, but at the European Champs in France, he and Team Belgium threw everything and the kitchen sink into their attempt to topple Tadej. It didn't work. And perhaps they'll be left asking what, if anything, more could have been done. But they followed through on their promise, and at the very least, managed to make 30-40 km of the race exciting to watch.
"We’re going to race atypically,” Serge Pauwels, former pro and current national coach, promised Het Nieuwsblad before the start. "Does that mean we’ll take less initiative? I’m not going to say. But we have something special planned. Whether that will materialise, we’ll see."
Step one: Send out a satellite rider
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