‘Not a bad sprint for a 51-year-old’ - how team mechanic resolved Evenepoel's puncture crisis in Olympic road race

Remco Evenepoel survived a later puncture to win gold in the road race
Remco Evenepoel survived a later puncture to win gold in the road race (Image credit: Getty Images)

It was described as the ‘bike change of the year’ by Het Laatste Nieuws. And certainly when Remco Evenepoel was riding solo towards a near-certain second Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Road Race, only to puncture with just over three kilometres to go, the possibility of a major last-minute disaster suddenly seemingly loomed higher than the nearby Eiffel Tower.

However, even as Evenepoel put his bike on the side of the road and turned to yell ‘Bike, bike, bike’ for assistance, help was at hand, in the shape of the Belgian team car and notably mechanic Kurt Roose.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.