“He has to stand over it”
Jan Ullrich criticizes cycling star after the tour of the tour
Updated on July 22nd, 2025 – 3:10 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Remco Evenepoel was one of the favorites for the tour victory. But it was over a week before the end. Jan Ullrich sees mental problems with the Belgian.
Remco Evenepoel is probably the most prominent tour dropout. The 14th stage was his last. The Belgian rose from his bike on Saturday and said goodbye to the title race.
The day before, he had emphasized after a weak mountain time trial that giving up was not part of his character. But when it got serious at the Col du Tourmalet, nothing worked. The 25-year-old climbed off the bike around 100 kilometers before the destination of the stage-visibly invalidated and frustrated. The television cameras caught the moment when Evenepoel asked a cameraman with gestures to leave him alone.
Jan Ullrich sees that critically. In the “Ulle & Rick” podcast, the 51-year-old criticized: “He is a superstar and drives after, of course the cameras are on it. He has to stand over it.” It is clear to him: Evenepoel had to learn to deal with such situations. “Remco has to be mentally helped,” said Ullrich.
Ullrich believes that the Belgian simply lacked the basis for full participation in the tour. “The base is not enough, because he lacks thousands of kilometers. The foundation was not big enough, then the shape breaks in at once.”
Rick Zabel, podcast college and former cycling professional, sees it similarly-with a view to the enormous pressure of expectation at home: “Remco is a superstar in Belgium, absolute A prominence. The whole nation is expecting a tour victory in the next few years.” The pressure drive with every race.
Zabel also described the sudden physical emptiness that Evenepoel experienced: “You quickly fall into a hole from a top shape. The legs simply close and are empty. It doesn’t feel like your body anymore. It’s a terrible feeling.” Evenepoel ended the tour in third place last year. At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, he shone with gold in the individual time trial and in the street race.