'Tadej didn't want to let me come back' – Remco Evenepoel bullish on cobbled Classics after taking third in his Tour of Flanders debut

Despite making it clear that he was here to try and win, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) said that third in the Tour of Flanders was "a result that we were hoping for and dreaming of" as he confirmed he will return to chase bigger success.

The Belgian, making a much talked-up debut, followed the initial selection when Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) pushed the pace over the second Oude Kwaremont, but was subsequently distanced on the Paterberg.

The world time trial champion then valiantly chased on his own behind the leaders, keeping them agonisingly close for a long time, but every time he got near, Pogačar seemed to push the pace again, and Evenepoel could never quite come back.

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"What was missing? I think the fact that Tadej didn't want to let me come back, that was missing," he said after the race. "Because Mathieu I think didn't have a problem with letting me come back, but I know I'm sure Tadej, well, he told me that he didn't want to let me come back. So that was unfortunate for me.

"At some point, Tadej really sped up, I think it was before the Steenbeekdries, and then it was game over for me, unfortunately."

Evenepoel still held off the rest of the field, including Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). Despite his bullish words and big ambitions pre-race, Evenepoel was clearly happy with a podium in his debut – perhaps one of the few times he'll be happy with third.

"I think in general, I should be satisfied with the race I did and the result," he said. "It's a result that we were hoping for and dreaming of, so I think I can only be happy with what we did as a team, and also the final result."

At the team bus, his Red Bull directors were equally pleased with the Belgian's performance, given his lack of experience in the cobbled Classics.

"He did really well. He had one, I wouldn't say bad moment, just the other guys went up the Paterberg a bit stronger or a bit faster," Klaas Lodewyck told Cyclingnews.

"You saw he was battling for a long period of time to keep that gap under control, but at a certain moment, when you have to fight all the time alone, and you don't have somebody who gives you now and then a little breath[er], it's really hard to get them back."

It was almost torturous in his team car, watching him get so close and then not quite making it.

"I felt like jumping on the bike for him and pedalling when he got so close there before the Mariaborrestraat," Chief of Sports Zak Dempster added. "But, yeah, it was a really brave ride. And I think he can be really proud, like we all are, of him and the whole team, to be honest."

Given the strength and ability he showed on Sunday, the questions very quickly turned to what Evenepoel can do in this race in years to come, though perhaps in the future, there will not be smoke and mirrors around his plans.

"Obviously, he hasn't done a cobbled race, really at all, and it was an idea that we thought was possible from the start," Dempster said.

"We also just wanted to do it without distractions, and get through Catalunya. He's in a good place, and he's delivered a really good performance, so I think there's definitely a fair bit of headroom from him in this race, considering he's done third on debut."

The only lesson Red Bull mentioned as a point to fix was about giving even more energy and fuel to their rider.

Whether he'll return to Flanders seemed already a moot point – Evenepoel quickly answered in the affirmative when asked, and his team clearly want to try again – but tantalisingly, he also left the door open for a start in Paris-Roubaix in the future.

"Yes, I will come back for sure," he said. "[Regarding Roubaix] this year is really not sure, next year is another story. We still have a lot of time to discuss that, but for sure one day I will be there."

Before that, though, Evenepoel will tackle all three Ardennes races, where he can take a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège title, and continue boosting Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Classics stock.

"When I first started in this role, the main thing I was hearing was that the Classics wasn't a really happy place for the team [last year], and at the moment I think it's a really good example of a high-performance culture," Dempster said.

"Podium of a Monument is big. Now let's see how we can recover from this and attack the Ardennes," Lodewyck concluded.

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