Remco Evenepoel has grown used to people talking about him. The headlines, the social media comments, the discourse around his generational talent and the pressure that comes with that, stopped bothering him some time ago. Really, it has to be this way. Ahead of the first stage of the Tour de France, he faces questions about not just his personal ambitions for the race, but his future in the sport altogether. Rumours are circulating about in which team the Belgian rider will continue his career, will he remain with Soudal-Quick-Step – the outfit which has helped him grow into the rider he has become – or move on to pastures new? Characteristically confident, bolshy and blunt, Evenepoel insists none of this matters.
“I haven’t even seen anything,” he states. “You all probably have started to get to know me a bit by now and comments from the outside or stressful situations, they don’t have a big effect on me. I’m always pretty calm whether it is a positive or negative situation. I would never crack under pressure.”
Pressure is going to be the operative word when it comes to the next three weeks of bike racing, and Evenepoel is no stranger to this. The 25-year-old finished on the podium of the Tour last year on his debut, both fulfilling and exceeding expectations of Belgian fans who have long been hungry for their next homegrown Tour hero. But what comes next? This is elite sport, and the strive to go one better always remains. Evenepoel may have secured the ‘best of the rest’ label behind Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard last season, but at some point, he needs to beat the best.
“It’s logical that because they won the last four editions that they are the top favourites,” he said. “But it is unfair towards myself and my team to say I’m not here to compete with them, I will try and make it harder for them. It’s difficult to say where exactly I am compared to them – last year I was the third guy and this year I have improved a lot, but I am here to do my best and give my maximum.”
It is true that we can’t exactly ascertain where Evenepoel sits in comparison to the form of his rivals, but we can look at his performances so far this season for an indication of what to expect from the Soudal Quick-Step rider. Most recently, he went up against both Pogačar and Vingegaard at the Critérium du Dauphiné and although he finished fourth on the general classification overall, Evenepoel’s time trial performance was impressive: he won the stage to Saint-Péray by 20 seconds ahead of Vingegaard. The time trial on stage five of the Tour de France is a prime opportunity for Evenepoel to capitalise on his strengths early in the race.
“It is almost double the distance at the Tour time trial compared to the Dauphiné and it’s almost completely flat. This time trial suits me better than Jonas and Tadej but it depends on the day’s shape. I want to take the stage win and it’s difficult to put a time gap on it, but I will push as hard as I can and we will see afterwards.”
The double-Olympic champion also was critical of the fact that bonus seconds aren’t awarded at the end of time trials like they are at the end of mountain stages: “My question to ASO is why they don’t put a bonus seconds after the time trial as well. In the end we climb so many mountains and at a certain point you might hear you are two minutes behind Tadej then he gets another 10 seconds at the end of the stage. Why? We should have bonus seconds in the time trial too.”
This answer sums up, in a sense, who Remco Evenepoel is. Unafraid to speak his mind, uncaring of other’s perceptions of him and honest about his ambition. He is both open and guarded, prepared to say what he thinks yet also acutely aware of the way his words will be scrutinised – a product of a career in the spotlight, despite him still being in his mid-twenties. As his career rolls on, how will Evenepoel bridge that gap to the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard? His answer, in true Remco style, tells us how it is.
“The guy responsible for closing that gap is my coach. I follow his training, every race we see where we are at, I hope to have a few seasons without any big injuries or breaks in between training periods,” he states. “My career goal is to win three Grand Tours, I have one in my pocket and two to go. I was third last year which means the capacity is there, but I need to improve some levels to come next to Tadej or try to beat him.”
