Evenepoel survives 'comeback day' unscathed: "Losing time on purpose would not be smart"

On Saturday, June 1st, the day before the start of the important Tour de France preparatory race, an online press conference was organized by Soudal Quick-Step. There, the Belgian stated that he was starting without any ambitions for the general classification. "I mainly want to see where I stand in terms of my form. For now, I have no expectations, but I prefer to take it day by day. With Ilan Van Wilder and Mikel Landa, we have two strong men for the overall classification here, and if I can, I would like to support them," said self-proclaimed 'domestique' Evenepoel.

Prior to the start of the first stage, attended by IDLProCycling.com, similar sentiments were voiced, although he seemed to hint at slightly more GC ambition. Regarding the expected sprint — which did happen — he said: "The rain isn't too bad, but being alert and awake from the start is good for focus. It will be fast, but on the other hand, there are a lot of sections that are straight ahead and the roads in the finale are wide. So, there's always room to avoid dangers. And of course, I have no business being in the first twenty, so safely reaching the last three kilometers is the most important thing. Luckily, there's also the three-second rule, so you have some leeway to be somewhat at the back. I certainly won't mix in, but losing time on purpose would also not be smart."

And he did not lose time. The Belgian powerhouse crossed the finish line at Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule in 98th place and without any problems. "I think the day went quite well for Remco," Wolfpack team director Klaas Lodewyck said after the race. "The goal was first and foremost to finish safely and avoid any crashes. To end the day feeling better than when you started. I think we managed that."

"We also didn't pick up any bad signals from him along the way," continued the 36-year-old Flemish team director. "He just rode the stage as he would otherwise, so that's good. That feeling of being back in a peloton of course needs to come back a bit. That's important and a goal in itself for this week. If we are still in a very good position when we are a few stages in, the goals might be adjusted."