Roger De Vlaeminck believes that Remco Evenepoel needs to race cyclocross in the winter, and also notes that Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert should have started road racing earlier in their careers.

The 72-year-old de Vlaeminck raced cyclocross throughout a career that saw him win all five monuments and four Paris-Roubaix titles.

He noted the influence of former cyclo-cross world champions Van der Pol and Van Aert on the road and urged them to follow 20-year-old Belgian sensation Even Paul, who is already making waves on the road.

"Lemko Evenepoel is being praised all over the place right now, and as you can see he is a good player. If he wants to advance, the best way is to become a cyclocross rider," de Vleminck said in an interview with Belgian magazine Knack (opens in new tab).

"Crossers are more skilful. I've never crashed in my entire career, but that's something I learned in cyclocross. The past champions knew it all. There is no better way to get through the winter.

"Every road cyclist should be in at least five or six cyclocross races."

Evenpoel went straight from juniors to the WorldTour in 2019, winning the European elite time trial title with Classica San Sebastián. He has already won the Vuelta a San Juan and the Volta ao Algarve this year and is preparing for his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia in October.

"We won't know if Evenpoel can win the Giro until we see him in a difficult stage race. In the time trial he will beat the best."

"Evenpoel is certainly not too young to win. It is by no means up to it. It has to be Messi. It has to be Messi on a bicycle."

De Flemink again referred to Lionel Messi, widely considered the best soccer player in the world, when talking about van der Pol and van Alst.

Both started in cyclocross and delayed their full campaign debut on the road, with Van Aart running his first full spring classic in 2018 at age 23 and Van der Poel in 2019 at age 24. Van der Poel has already won the Amstel Gold Race and the Doire de Flanderen, while Van Aert has podiums in Strade Bianche and E3, as well as a top 10 finish in Milan - San Remo.

"If they had switched to the road when they were 21, they would each have won three Classics by now. But that was too early, so to speak. Lionel Messi was 17 when he made his debut for Barcelona. It's never too early.

"I was 21 when I won the Omloop Het Volk, and I could have won it at 19, but I was too young to run with the pros back then. But Van Art and Van Der Pol had to wait until I was 24. If only they had called me. I wanted to explain that to them. But I don't have to. They know better. They can make their own mistakes."