Remco Evenepoel explains why completely different winter has opened his eyes to the rest of his career

Remco Evenepoel is starting his road cycling season! The now 24-year-old Belgian riding for Soudal-Quick Step kicks off his season on Saturday, February 10, in the Figueira Champions Classic and will then ride in the Tour of the Algarve. A bit of a later start than usual, as in 2019 and 2020 he was already racing in the first week of February, and last year Evenepoel also participated in the Tour of Valencia. In 2024, however, the decision was made to go for some extra rest in the winter, and this approach has indeed opened a number of eyes. IDLProCycling.com had a chat with Remco about this during an online press moment.

Secretly, Evenepoel's 2024 racing year was supposed to only start on February 14 in the Algarve, but now the Figueira Champions Classic, a one-day race, has been added to his schedule. "Honestly, it wasn't really much of a choice. The team added this race since last season, and it's a good combination with the Tour of the Algarve, kind of a warm-up," he says candidly. After the two Portuguese races, Paris-Nice, the Tour of the Basque Country, several Ardennes classics, the Dauphiné and then the Tour will follow. No Giro then, but that had already been communicated previously. "There's not much more to say about it. The team thought it was better for me to skip the Giro this season and focus on preparing one hundred percent for the Tour de France."

It is also because of the Tour in July that Evenepoel created space for himself to take more rest in the winter. In 2023, he had a long year, stretching all the way from the Vuelta a San Juan in January to the Chrono des Nations in the third week of October. For the first time in his now six-year professional career, he took a significant break from cycling. "I took a very long break, about five weeks. I didn't cycle during that time, though I did some running. That kept me active, and when I started training again, I was immediately focused. I felt very refreshed, mentally as well. A long break like that was new for me, but necessary. In the end, I was able to complete all my training without any problems, so that's good to know for the coming years. If my body is very tired, taking four or five weeks off the bike won't make a difference in the preparation that follows. That's very good."

According to Evenepoel, the different approach to his winter won't affect his form in the first races. The word 'winning' is immediately on his lips, as it was in the Tour of the Algarve in 2020 (two stages and the overall classification) and 2022 (one stage and the overall classification). "The Figueira Champions Classic is an explosive race, and the Tour of the Algarve offers a bit of everything: uphill finishes, flat stages, hilly stages and a time trial. That's why I love that race, because I always came out of it in better form. I'd like to win right away. It's nice to start the season like that. In the build-up to Paris-Nice, I hope to develop even further. We'll also use this race to get to know the guys better. I know Mikel Landa in the peloton, but I don't know exactly what he's like in the team. I'd like to find out."

Continue reading below the photo!

Remco Evenepoel and newcomer Mikel Landa

Evenepoel understands choices made by Vingegaard, Pogacar and Roglic

Full of confidence, we've come to expect nothing less from Evenepoel. With fifty victories to his name in just five seasons as a pro, he has every reason to look forward to 2024 with confidence. A year in which he will finally compete in the Tour de France, facing off against Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) and Primoz Roglic (BORA-hansgrohe). Dreaming about this first real clash of his career? "If I dream of anything, it's making the podium in Nice. I have many goals, but if I finish first, second or third in the Tour, then that would definitely be a dream come true."

How Evenepoel stacks up against the other grand tour cyclists is something we have wanted to know for years. And cycling fans will have to wait a while longer in 2024. Vingegaard, Pogacar, Roglic and Evenepoel are all following different preparation schedules. "Everyone chooses their own goals, and for me, everything in the first half of the season is in service of the Ardennes classics. We'll see each other in the Dauphiné and then for three weeks in the Tour, so it's quite a long period that we'll be racing against each other. Tadej is focusing on the Giro and the Tour, so he can't race much else in the lead-up. For me, Paris-Nice and a few other races are new on my calendar, but for Jonas and Primoz, I can imagine they've done those races often enough and also want to try something different. The fact that we won't race against each other much in 2024 is mainly due to personal choices and schedules. I'd have liked to race against them now, but you can't ask a cyclist to enter a race just because another big name is also participating."

However, hearing Evenepoel talk about the Tour, it is clear that he can't wait to get started. In December, we already saw him out scouting in France. "The two stages I scouted are the time trial and the gravel stage around Troyes. The gravel stage will be more spectacular to the public than it actually is. It's not really technical or dangerous. It's nothing special, though we have to be careful not to loose time. I think it's a beautiful stage and I enjoyed scouting it. I'm not the only one who has scouted it either, with INEOS and Visma | Lease a Bike having been there too. We'll definitely scout some more, but that's for later."

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