In 2016 footballer at Anderlecht, now world champion time trial

OTHER As expected, Remo Evenepoel conquered the world title time trial at the juniors in Innsbruck yesterday afternoon. Two years ago, Evenepoel was still a football player at Anderlecht, but in the autumn of 2016 he lost his football fun.


Evenepoel started playing football at Anderlecht as a young boy, but in 2011 opted for an adventure at PSV. A dispute with a trainer was the basis of this departure, as told Evenepoel last week in the cycling magazine Bahamontes. In 2014, the midfielder, at that point captain of the Belgian youth teams, returned to Anderlecht.

That return was not successful due to injuries. Evenepoel his development as a footballer stopped and he also lost his place. In 2016 he did not receive a professional contract. The same interview in Bahamontes shows that financial reasons also played a role. If Anderlecht signed Evenepoel, it had to pay a training fee of 180,000 euros to PSV.

Evenepoel closed the Anderlecht door behind him, tried for a while at KV Mechelen, but appeared to be tired of football. In the meantime he had discovered the love for the bicycle. Father Patrick was still a few years pro in the 1990s, but dropped when EPO made its entry into the bunch.

In the spring of 2017, Evenepoel rode his first races and he immediately showed himself a winner. Barely six months after his debut, he was already part of the Belgian World Cup selection. In the winter he went on a traineeship with Quick-Step and this season he drives everything to pieces with the juniors. In the summer it became known that he would skip the promise category and on January 1st, barely 18 years old, becomes a professional at Quick-Step.

Today, Evenepoel was the top favorite at the World Championships time trial for juniors. He fulfilled the expectations and won with 1'23 "ahead of the number 2. The day after tomorrow he is also the top favorite for the road race.