Paris Olympics: Cyclist Remco Evenepoel scripts history with twin golds
Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel has been at the peak of his prowess in the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics. On August 3, Evenepoel became the first male cyclist to win the time trial and road race at the same Olympic Games. It must be noted that Evenepoel suffered a tire puncture near the end of the road race event. Here we decode his dream campaign.
Gold in the men's time trial
Evenepoel weathered the rain and the slippery streets of Paris in the men's time trial event. The Belgian cyclist embraced the challenging conditions as he raced to the gold medal with a time of 36:12.16. He was 15 seconds ahead of the second-placed Filippo Ganna of Italy. Notably, Evenepoel secured Belgium's first Olympic gold in this event.
Glory in individual road race
The men's individual road race took place on a course that started at Pont d'Iéna in Paris. Evenepoel triumphed in this event as well as he covered the 273 kilometer course in 6:19:34 hours. Notably, this was the longest Olympic road race to date. Evenepoel became the third Belgian after André Noyelle and Greg Van Avermaet to clinch gold in this event.
Do you know?
As mentioned, Evenepoel suffered a tire puncture toward the end phase of the race. However, his gap was so large that even a flat tyre in front of the Louvre couldn't stop him from finishing first. He had almost four kilometer to cover when the puncture happened. Still, Evenepoel was a minute faster than his nearest rival, France's Valentin Madouas (6:20.45).
Here are his other accomplishments
The 24-year-old Evenepoel has taken giant strides in recent years. He has also won the Vuelta a España (2022), the UCI road race world championship (2022), the UCI time trial world championship (2023), and the young rider classification at the Tour de France (2024). Notably, he couldn't secure any medal in his debut Olympic campaign, the 2020 Tokyo Games.
