Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 11:02 AM
Remco Evenepoel blew away the competition on Saturday in the time trial of the Volta ao Algarve. The current world champion did this with a front chainring with no less than 62 teeth, but he was not the only one with such ‘monster resistance’. His compatriot Rune Herregodts opted for the same resistance.
The 25-year-old rider from Intermarché-Wanty achieved a ninth fastest time in the finishing town of Albufeira with his monster resistance. Herregodts had a blade with no less than 62 teeth at the front and a 12 speed at the rear, with a choice of twelve gears between 11 teeth and 34 teeth. He managed to limit the damage to his compatriot at the finish line to just under a minute, and thus finished ahead of Wout van Aert.
“Thanks to that 12 speed, you have enough margin at the back to still ride uphill. Rune regularly trains with a 62. He is the only rider on our team who has a front plate of 62,” explains former rider Dimitri Claeys, today team leader at Intermarché-Wanty. The last news. This is because these dental trays are only available to a limited extent for the time being.
Claeys is very satisfied with his rider’s result. “Rune trains a lot on his time trial bike. It’s his specialty. Every time trial is a goal for him. On Monday we had explored the time trial course three times. We are very happy with this ninth place.” Herregodts’ next time trial goal follows in Tirreno-Adriatico, but this season he is mainly focusing on the BC Time Trial in Binche.
From Campenaerts’s sleeve
The winner of the time trial in the Volta ao Algarve, Remco Evenepoel, talked about his 62 front sheet afterwards. “We have adjusted the bicycle position a bit this winter and the mechanics and the performance team have also figured out all kinds of things, in terms of shifting and all kinds of other things. I think we have just taken a serious step forward in all areas.”
“We made that choice (for the resistance, ed.) because of the course, it went downhill a lot. I found it at the limit myself. Our good friend Victor Campenaerts started this, we ‘stole’ it from him. It went very well. I can only be satisfied with the work of the entire team.”
