Merckx, Evenepoel trade comments in Belgian media over young star’s attitude | Sticky Bottle

Remco Evenepoel has been a star on the road in the pro ranks so far but Eddy Merckx says the young Belgian will still have to "eat a lot of sandwiches"

Remco Evenepoel and Eddy Merckx have traded comments in the Belgian media with Merckx saying it seemed to him that Evenepoel thought he had already made it big in cycling.

Evenepoel has responded and though his remarks were diplomatic he said he wasn’t going to get too concern about Merckx's remarks.

The exchange has been widely reported in Belgium where it is big news considering Merckx’s status as cycling’s greatest ever rider and Evenepoel now rapidly emerging as the new king of Belgian cycling.

"He still has to prove it all," said Merckx (74) when recently asked about Evenepoel by Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

“Last year he won San Sebastian at a time in the season when the rest may have been a bit tired. Of course he has many capacities, but the road is still long.

“Sometimes he seems to think
he's already there. If I hear him make some statements… I hope for him that he
lives up to it, but he will have to eat a lot of sandwiches, ”said Merckx.

The reference to “eating a lot of sandwiches” is a saying in Belgium which effectively means someone still has a lot of work to do.

*Merckx is the best cyclist of all time, by a considerable margin, and hasn't held back when saying Evenepoel shouldn't over estimate his achievements so far and the amount of work still to be done* *(Photo: Gian Mattia D'Alberto-LaPresse)*

Now Evenepoel has responded,
respecting Merckx but pushing back gently against what he had said.

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"Eddy Merckx has the right to put someone in their place. Look at his career; there’s nothing to add," he told Het Nieuwsblad.

"But I'm not going to worry about it, I know
that I'm doing well. The team is satisfied with what I have done so
far. That is the most important."

He added he would target the
Giro and the World Championships in the revised calendar of racing due to start
on Start from August 1^st.

Evenepoel was 2018’s star
junior, winning the world TT and road race crowns with apparent ease as well as
the European road and TT titles and the final yellow jerseys in every
UCI-ranked stage race he rode.

He went from the junior ranks to the WorldTour, with Deceuninck-QuickStep, and during his first year in the pro ranks in 2019 he won the European TT title and claimed silver at the Worlds behind Rohan Dennis.

He also won a stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour (2.HC) and the overall, won a stage of the Adriatica Ionica Race and took a superb solo win in San Sebastian.

Before racing was suspended earlier this year the 20-year-old had already won the Vuelta a San Juan overall, and a stage of that race.

He had also taken the final yellow jersey at Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta, where he won the TT stage and a summit finish stage win.