Headliner of the Romandie Tour, which he completed in 5th place, Remco Evenepoel is satisfied with his week spent in Switzerland. The Belgian claims to be on time to play the podium on the Tour.
Its thunderous return to competition during the Brabançonne arrow and its number at the Amstel Gold Race had been somewhat nuanced by halftone performance at the Walloon arrow and, above all, on the dean of the classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. A stage race like the Romandie Tour should therefore make it possible to gauge the pedal stroke of the double Olympic champion a little better to two months from the Tour de France, his big goal of the season.
Operational shoulder
If the mountain stage has shown that the runner of the Sudal Quick-Step team had not yet found his full climber capacity, his clear victory during the final time trial in Geneva allowed him to reassure himself. “”It gives me motivation to work even harder in the coming weeks“Said Evenepoel, saying he felt”no pain“At his right shoulder, seriously affected during an accident in December.”I was asking myself a few questions about my ability to take the position of the time for so long, but I was able to go there without problem.”
Last year, for its first round of France, the 25 -year -old Brabançon finished in 3rd place, more than 9 minutes from the untouchable Tadej Pogacar and 3 minutes from Jonas Vingegaard. With a truncated preparation and a upset calendar – for the benefit of the French -speaking audience, which could see him riding in his iridescent jersey and on his golden bicycle -, “Remco” can hardly hope to do better in 2025.
Comparison with the Critérium du Dauphiné
Returning to the podium of the large loop could even be more complicated for the winner of the Vuelta 2022, given the progression of Joao Almeida. With its successes on the tour of the Basque Country and on TDR this week, the Portuguese showed that it could be more than a luxury teammate for the Slovenian Ogre in the UAE team.
The Belgian compared his performances on this French -speaking loop to those of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2024. “I also drove at my pace in the mountains and won the time (Editor’s note: 7th final row, 2’25 from the winner Primoz Roglic). The good news is that the Dauphiné was much later than Romandie. So I still have time and I’m not stressed“, He said.
ats/lper
