October month, finals month! That includes Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian finished fifth at the World Championships last weekend. Evenepoel and Soudal Quick-Step are preparing for the Giro dell'Emilia next Saturday. The team announced the selection via a press release and is confident of a beautiful end to the season for the small leader, who is having a superb year, finished on the podium at the Tour, and is a two-time Olympic champion.
The 215-kilometer Italian race features a fivefold climb of the San Luca and is a throwback to the second stage of the Tour this year. For Evenepoel, it will be a great opportunity to fight a new duel with Tadej Pogacar, who was presented as the leader by his team, UAE Team Emirates, earlier on Thursday. Primoz Roglic will also start, and so we get a royal battle around Bologna.
Read more below the photo.
In Italy, Evenepoel is nicely surrounded. The departing Jan Hirt should be able to assist him for a long time, as will Ilan Van Wilder and Mauri Vansevenant. Sport director Davide Bramati is optimistic about his team's chances. "Giro dell'Emilia is one of the most beautiful races of the month, and we travel there with the motivation and determination to do something fun. We start our Italian racing block there, culminating next weekend with Il Lombardia. We are confident about our chances, especially because we have a team capable of competing at the end of the race and fighting for a strong result," said the man heading to his homeland with the team.
Remco Evenepoel
Jan Hirt
Mauri Vansevenant
Ilan Van Wilder
Fausto Masnada
Pieter Serry
William Junior Lecerf
The calendar for the new cyclo-cross season is now online! Check it out here. Or check out our general calendars for the remainder of the season for the men and women's races.