Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert have brushed off suggestions their clash at last year's home World Championships has lingered, with both Belgian riders saying they will work together during the 2022 title race in Wollongong on Sunday.
However, Australia's big hope for the elite men's road race crown, Michael Matthews, has said he is not sure how the two Belgian stars will combine as team mates, though claimed he was unconcerned.
"Remco and Wout are strong riders who would technically be leaders in any other country," said Matthews. "It will be interesting to see how they work together or just don't work together. They probably had a good chat after last year. I honestly don't know whether everything is back to normal. That's not my concern either."
Last year Van Aert was the leader of the Belgian team, though Evenepoel tried his best to get away in a breakaway and after the race he declined to take part in a team debriefing. Evenepoel later said in the media he believed he had a chance of winning the race and disagreed with the team tactics.
Advertisement
While much has been made of that spat 12 months ago, both riders have now said they will work as a unit to try and win the title for Belgium on Sunday.
When asked if they had discussed the events of last year since arriving in Australia last week, Van Aert said: “Not just the past few days, but also before. We learned from last year. That is why we are now here with two leaders, and not with one as then.
"That makes us more unpredictable. And it's a big advantage on other team. Maybe they still think we don't get along very well. Only good for us.”
Related News
Evenepoel agreed, saying they would "of course work well together" adding there was "no other option".
"We must want to win this World Cup as a country, as Belgium," said the Vuelta winner. "I know Wout, his level, his qualities, and he knows all that about me. We are both professional enough and have enough racing knowledge to know that we have to do it together."
Van Aert added that in their bid to win the race for Belgium he believed "Remco can attack from further" out.
"But, honestly, I think we shouldn't choose too early when to play which card. We just have to take advantage of the fact that we can be in the final with two. Not many countries have that luxury," he added.
"That's the most important thing: keep both options open for as long as possible. Plus, everyone expects me to wait until the sprint, but I can also attack myself.”
Evenepoel said their strength lay in the fact they were both so strong and he believed the best policy was to keep that double threat intact as deep into the race as they could.
“We will have to stay together as long as possible and support each other," he said. "Just for communication. We ride without earphones. Suppose one of us is not feeling so well, you should be able to tell each other immediately.”
