Three days after the race, Ten Dam did not soften his read of the Belgian’s performance.

“Climbing doesn’t come very naturally to him,” he said of Evenepoel on the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast, in comments transcribed by IDL Procycling.

“Both at the World Championships and here on the longer climbs, he really struggles.”

Ten Dam, a former Dutch pro who now coaches the Dutch women’s national team, has been one of the most listened-to Dutch-language voices on pro cycling for years.

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Beaten on the Civiglio

Evenepoel came into Como on Saturday as one of the biggest pre-race names, Tadej Pogacar having skipped the race. He left it in fourth, behind a rider who had turned 20 two weeks earlier.

Seixas, of Decathlon CMA CGM, tore the race open on the Civiglio and soloed to the finish on the Como lakefront. The official race report has Enric Mas second at 48 seconds, Giulio Ciccone third at 1’05” and Evenepoel fourth at 1’20”, level with Brandon McNulty.

Seixas became the youngest Il Lombardia winner ever, surpassing Giovanni Gerbi’s record from the inaugural 1905 edition.

Weight that keeps coming back

Ten Dam built his case around physiology rather than tactics.

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“He’s just a few kilos heavier than he was in the Tour.”

“His body is built for muscle gain. He puts on weight quickly.”

“He’s still vulnerable on climbs, unless he follows a full training regimen for a few months.”

The limit of pure watts

Ten Dam also went back to the European Championships, where Ciccone again proved difficult for Evenepoel to shake.

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“At the European Championships, he was still able to fake it. He could survive on his power output. But even there, he didn’t manage to break away from Ciccone.”

Evenepoel’s rainbow-jersey year has one unqualified success to point to: in Montreal in September he became the first rider to win four consecutive men’s time-trial world titles. His first season at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe closed on Saturday with the Il Lombardia defeat, and the 2026 road season is now over.

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