As Lemko Evenpoel celebrated his second Olympic gold medal in a week, his Belgian teammates spoke of the young leader's devastating series of attacks and how they confused and defeated his rivals.

Belgian riders Jasper Steiven, Wout Van Aert, and Tiesj Benoot provided the foundation for Evenpoel's success, right down to his final move to shake off Valentin Madouas (France), who was chasing the most with 15 km to go, in a crucial The effect of Evenpoel's special moves could be witnessed at key moments.

"He already said yesterday [Friday] that that was a good place to attack and when he accelerated there it was impressive," Stuyven told Sporza.

Evenpoel could have waited for the third climb to the summit of Montmartre to allow his last rival to withstand his attack. Stuyven explained, however, that while an attack on Montmartre might have been easier to resist because it was more predictable, "where Lemko chose to attack was the second longest climb on the finish circuit and a very tough part of the course."

"He was really looking forward to going there. And that's exactly what happened."

The Belgian team was unique in that it had two match winners: long-distance attacker Evenpoel and small group sprinter Van Aert.

Van Aert crashed in the final kilometers and was unable to contend for a medal, but the Belgian team's strategy was for Stuyven and Benoot to selflessly chase dangerous attacks and, since there was no race radio, to use their strength to get back to the team car for information

Benoot was the only one to make it to the finish line.

Benoot's most important moment came when the peloton chased a dangerous attack led by Ben Healy (Ireland) and Valentin Madouas (France) alone. Ben Healy (Ireland), Valentin Madouas (France), Marco Haller (Austria), Mike Woods (Canada), Fred Wright (UK), and Stefan Kühn (Switzerland).

"I went to ask the cars what was going on before the circuit, and they were like, 'OK, Healey and Lutsenko are 25 seconds apart.' Then I went back to the front and saw a group of six, seven, eight guys gone," Benoot told Cycling News.

"At first Jasper didn't pull because he thought Lemko was there too, but then he saw Lemko right behind him. I knew I had to start pulling immediately. There wasn't a lot of speed in the pack and if I gave them three minutes on the local lap it would be really hard to catch up. So this is how I was able to save the day."

The lack of a race radio and the fact that it was a team of up to four people further highlighted that Belgium had succeeded in their strategy.

"With two leaders, Wout and Lemko, you also have to take responsibility. 'It was a bit tricky having a strong group right before the local lap, but we managed to pull away from them. When Mathieu van der Per went, Wout needed to be there, and I think he actually did. Then Lemko, in his own time, actually went where he said he was going."

Evenpoel's success left a huge mark on Belgium in the history of cycling. He was the first male athlete in history to win gold medals in both road and time trial at a single Olympic Games. Evenpoel is also the first Belgian to win two Olympic gold medals since Edmond Clootens in 1920.

"This will be in documentaries 20, 30, 40 years from now," national coach Sven Van Torenhout said, before recounting the final incident when Evenpoel got a flat tire 3.8 km from the finish under the Eiffel Tower. He added.

"It was super hectic being there with the car, we ran a race within a race.

"I ran next to him right after and wanted to calm him down by telling him his lead. In fact, the commissaires didn't allow it, so we might get fined," he grinned.

As for Evenper's gold medal, he concluded, "As a team, as a federation, we all have to enjoy it."

"This is a unique moment. We are here with a world-class team, on and off the bike. I'm proud of the whole team."

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