Remco Evenepoel has received strong support from his former team manager Patrick Lefevere regarding the rider's decision to skip the Belgian National Championships this year in order to remain fully focused on his build-up for the fast-approaching Tour de France.
The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider has opted to miss the Nationals, a decision which according to Belgian Cycling Federation regulations, which stipulate all pro racers must take part in that event, could hypothetically result in a short suspension.
This could potentially affect his participation in the Tour de France, although it is thought unlikely that such a suspension would actually happen, particularly as riders have missed the Belgian Nationals in the past without penalisation.
The Belgian star has not raced this Spring since Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the July 4 start in the Tour de France his next event.
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However, Evenepoel's absence from the Nationals and the possible penalty have caused something of a minor media storm in Belgium, with Lefevere now weighing in his weekly Nieuwsblad column in support for his former protege at QuickStep, which Lefevere managed for over two decades.
“Every year at the Belgian Cycling Championships, we get the same role-playing: riders who suddenly fall ill or suddenly feel a slight overload and therefore have to withdraw 'with a heavy heart'. A week later, they start the Tour de France fit and cheerful," Levefere wrote.
"The doctor's notes come in to the Belgian federation, and they just have to take it all in their stride. Someone probably has to reply 'get well soon' as well."
Lefevere described the mandatory participation in the Belgian Nationals as "an absurd situation" but he also said he understood the logic behind it. With very little money available for the Belgian National Federation and few commercially viable opportunities to help boost their profile, an event like the Nationals guaranteed some return for host towns and cities.
However, Lefevere also said in his Nieuwsblad column he understood why stage racers like Evenepoel wanted to stay away.
"He naturally thinks - ' No way am I going to jeopardize my Tour in Brasschaat" - the location of this year's Nationals - "with zero elevation gain," Lefevere wrote.
"I saw Remco Evenepoel win the flat Belgian Championship in Izegem and even the Gullegem Kermesse, but if he goes for the doctor's note now too, I fully understand."
Lefevere said he disagreed with a currently popular argument that the Belgian National Champion's jersey had little importance for pros, stating categorically "Every rider worth his money wants to have worn it at some point. Without the Tour, Remco Evenepoel is always at the start."
“The Belgian Championship is somewhat of an anachronism in today’s cycling. Teams of three against teams of twenty-three, somewhere around a church tower or town hall. It gets in the way of altitude training camps, and team sponsors aren’t exactly keen on a jersey where the national flag obstructs their own logo.
"But I don’t join those who think the Belgian jersey means nothing anymore."
As for Sunday's race, Lefevere said he'll be backing Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) for the title on the flat course, arguing that he had given a better impression in the most recent stage race in the Tour of Belgium.
But in any case, Lefevere said, regardless of who was going to win, he would never miss the chance to watch the Nationals, pointing out that, "On a flat course, even with a Belgian peloton, you still see the world’s top riders in action."
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