While Tadej Pogacar is currently unbeatable in stage races, the situation changes for one-day races, where Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel have proven to be the only ones capable of challenging the World Champion.

The Slovenian currently seems unassailable and, after winning the World and European titles, he easily won the Tre Valli Varesine yesterday. Looking at the Classics, however, the story is different, with 2 riders who can stand up to and beat the two-time world champion.

Pogacar has won 9 Monument Classics (4 Il Lombardia, 3 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 2 Tour of Flanders), while Van der Poel has secured 8 Monument Classics (3 Tour of Flanders, 3 Paris-Roubaix, and 2 Milan-San Remo). Remco Evenepoel, for now, has only won 2 Liège-Bastogne-Liège titles. But looking at the last World Championship and European Championship, Evenepoel was the only one able to chase Pogacar and finish the race with a minimal gap in second place, while for all others it was a devastating defeat. The Belgian will soon wear the jersey of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, and the German team is working to understand how to close the gap with Tadej Pogacar. In his new team, Evenepoel will find a familiar face, that of former Belgian national team coach Sven Vanthourenhout, who is convinced that next year's Classics will look very different.

"Remco cannot improve more than 15%, but I truly believe that by working on one-day races, not stage races, he can become Pogacar's equal. I'm convinced that Remco has not yet reached the peak of his development and can genuinely get closer to Pogacar through performance, nutrition, and training."

Looking at race data, the Belgian rider has shown undisputed supremacy in time trials, winning three consecutive world titles and Olympic gold, as well as time trials in stage races, and is undoubtedly superior to the Slovenian in this specialty. However, things start to change when discussing one-day races. Of course, one must consider Evenepoel's injuries, starting from 2020 when he fell into a ravine during Il Lombardia, then the crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in 2024 and the injury last December while training at home. Despite the falls and long rehabilitation, the twenty-five-year-old Belgian has always shown a strong character, fully committing to returning to competitiveness quickly.

According to Vanthourenhout, a cyclist's body consists of three engines, each with a specific task: the first burns fats and oxygen; the second (during shorter and more intense efforts) burns sugars. And the third burns sugars but must help the body compensate for the lack of oxygen when the effort is too intense, to prevent lactic acid buildup in the legs.

For the Belgian coach, if he learns to manage these three engines well, then Evenepoel will be able to reach the same level as Pogacar.

"Remco is in good condition, but it's in this third engine that Pogacar has an advantage over him. And this is what we will work on, because if we manage to increase this efficiency, then we will have achieved our goal and Remco will have closed the gap that still exists today."

The season is about to end, and on Saturday, with Il Lombardia, Remco and Tadej will face off again. The world champion is still the overwhelming favorite, but Evenepoel will try to minimize the gap: if luck is on his side, he might even hope for a victory rather than another second place.