The Russian cyclist failed at the Olympics. And the former Belgian footballer took home two gold medals!
Andrey Shitikhin August 3, 2024, 20:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Gleb Syritsa failed to make it to the finish line in the group race. At the beginning of the time trial, he even lost to the women.
Belgian Remco Evenepoel did something in road cycling that can be compared to Leon Marchand’s achievement in the pool. He became the first in history to win both the time trial and the group race at the same Olympic Games! Russian Gleb Syritsa, unfortunately, was not even able to finish.
Syritsa spent a long time in the leading group, even tried to break away with other participants at the beginning of the race, but eventually gave up and stopped fighting. Earlier, Gleb also had an unsuccessful performance in the time trial, showing the penultimate result. And his times were worse than those of the winner of a similar women’s race, which took place on the same route. In general, the Russians were not ready to perform, or even fight, at such a level and on such terrain. Yes, in general, he never showed high results.
Russian Syritsa finished second to last in the time trial:
The Russian cyclist would have lost even to the girls. He is not ready for the Olympics!
Belgian Remco Evenepoel won the group race. On the first medal day of the Olympic Games, he wonderfully defeated his opponents in the time trial. Just six days later he became the overall winner of the Tour de France for the first time in his career. A week later, Evenepoel won the group race in an absolutely stunning fashion.
The Belgian started to tear the peloton apart about 37.5 km before the finish. As a result, 25 km from the finish, only Frenchman Valentin Maduas was able to sit behind him at the wheel. But 15 km before the end of the race, Evenepoel knocked the Frenchman off his feet. While he was getting up, he launched such a strong attack that Maduas seemed to simply stand up.
But this was only in comparison to Remco, who seemed to have a load on his legs for at least an hour more of the race. It didn’t take much, although there was some drama. When he could have calmly reached the finish line at the Eiffel Tower, he suffered a rear tyre puncture! But the point is that at the Olympic Games, unlike Grand Tour races, the riders have no contact with their “technicians”; this is strictly forbidden.
That is, Evenepoel, although he looked around, did not even know how much he was gaining on his pursuers. What emotions the Belgian showed at that moment! He indicated with his hand that he was going to brake, jumped off the bike and started shouting that he needed an urgent replacement. Having lost about 20 seconds, Evenepoel continued the race and received the necessary information from the mechanic about the leak.
Remco Evenepoel
Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
After that, he simply rode to the finish line and then raised his bike in victory. Maduas took silver and third place in the sprint was taken by another Frenchman, Christophe Laporte.
Marchand combined the incompatible in the pool, winning the 200m breaststroke and butterfly. And Evenepoel, who played for Belgium’s under-16 football team, took the time trial and the group. Only a king.
