Evenepoel completes seven-hour Easter ride on the cobbles in Flanders

Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was never due to ride Paris-Roubaix on Sunday but he nevertheless spent seven hours riding on cobblestones. 

The Belgian youngster has been continuing to rack up the kilometres during the coronavirus pandemic, with riding outdoors still permitted in Belgium, unlike France and Spain. 

Evenepoel posted a video on social media of his Sunday ride around the Flemish Ardennes near his home in the north of Belgium. 

"7h on the bike on cobbles and Flemish climbs and a small BBQ at home afterwards as reward," Evenepoel wrote. 

Evenepoel is only in his second year as a professional but is focusing mainly on his time trialling and stage racing, winning both the Vuelta a San Juan and Volta ao Algarve this season before racing was suspended. 

He won the Clasica San Sebastian last year but has so far shown little interest in the cobbled classics of northern Belgium. However, before his seven-hour cobbled ride on Sunday, he also participated in the virtual 'lockdown' edition of the Tour of Flanders. 

As well as riding his bike, Evenepoel is also reportedly interested in how he can help others. Speaking on a VRT podcast on Monday, Deceuninck-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere praised the 20-year-old's maturity, revealing he'd inquired about how the team was affected by the coronavirus situation and whether he'd need to take a pay cut. 

"Remco was the first rider to send me a message saying, 'Hey boss, everything okay? Do I not have to hand in anything?," Said Lefevere.

"He sometimes comes up with ideas himself. He suggested delivering groceries to people's homes on his bicycle, like Jolien d'Hoore and Dylan Groenewegen are now doing. But that was at the very beginning of the crisis, and we were not sure then whether it would be well received. But it is striking how much attention he still generates today, thanks to his social media, among other things."