Best Moments of 2024: Golden Remco

The Belgian wrote history at the Olympic Games and World Championships this year.

“I came with an immense motivation at the start of the Olympics in Paris and with my confidence buoyed by the excellent Tour de France that I had with the team. Finishing third in Nice was a great result, although I wasn’t too sure of what I could do at the Olympics as Le Tour was incredibly demanding and I was tired after those three weeks, while some of the guys in the time trial race were fresh, having made this their main goal of the summer.

I didn’t lack confidence, but I had no idea where I stood compared to my rivals. The fact that it rained that day made everything even more challenging, as I had to pay extra attention on those wet and slick roads, where any small mistake could make the difference between gold and not getting a medal. But I was in my own bubble and managed to remain calm, doing a perfect race and clinching the win for 12 seconds, which was fantastic.

A couple of days later, the road race came, and with it, new expectations and pressure. Actually, I wasn’t under that much pressure, as I already had a gold medal around my neck, but I wanted to give it my all once again and get the best possible result. The atmosphere was electrifying out there and the many fans that packed the course around Montmartre made you feel like you were in a stadium, I have goosebumps just remembering that day.

When I took off, I felt that it was the right moment to do so, and had the power and rhythm to catch my opponents and then drop them one by one. The final kilometers looked to be calm, but that puncture made things really stressful, which was amplified by the fact that the motorbike showed me the gap to the chasers wasn’t that big. I quickly got another bike and fortunately the drama was short-lived, and I could solo to my second gold of the week. Those Olympics are the ones that will forever be the closest to my home during my time as a rider, and to be able to share this with the Belgians and all my friends and family was pretty special. Two golds in the space of just a few days was really something I couldn’t have imagined.

Then, just a couple of months later, successfully defending my ITT World Title was another result that made me incredibly happy. Retaining the iconic rainbow jersey for another year was just amazing, especially as it came after what was arguably the hardest time trial of my career. It was extremely demanding and wearing, but I was motivated to do my best and went all-out on the key sections of the course in and around Zurich. To have a total of three gold medals in major competitions is something I would have never dreamed of, and it certainly made 2024 a year to remember.”

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images