Tour de France appears ready to bow to Evenepoel: "He will be a central figure for the next 10 years"

Remco Evenepoel has gained a significant boost of confidence with his third place in the Tour de France. The Belgian from Soudal-Quick Step celebrated with his team on Sunday and mentioned that winning all three Grand Tours no longer needs to be just a dream. With the Vuelta a España already in hand, the Tour de France organization seems willing to see Evenepoel finish in yellow someday.

Evenepoel was at Maison de Bacon in Antibes on Sunday, where he was handed the microphone. "Now I just need a podium spot in the Giro, and then I will have finished in the top three in all the Grand Tours," he said ambitiously. Evenepoel has already worn the pink jersey in the Giro, but had to withdraw in 2023 due to COVID. He also participated in 2021 but abandoned in the third week after a crash.

Thus, the Giro d'Italia remains a goal, but so does the Tour de France. "After that, we'll be chasing all the jerseys," Evenepoel chuckled, according to HLN. "It’s my goal to win all the Grand Tours in my career. After today (Sunday, editor’s note), that dream seems realistic."

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Tour boss Prudhomme sees Evenepoel as a future Tour winner

This will sound like music to Christian Prudhomme, chairman of ASO. The Frenchman tells Tutto Bici that he sees Evenepoel as a future Tour winner. "Remco will be a central figure in the Tour for the next ten years; he has all the qualities to win someday. Why not? Everyone is now convinced that he can do it. I am impressed by his consistency and rising form in the third week."

"Nobody knows where his limit lies and how far he can still grow," Prudhomme adds. "He is 24 years old, this was his first Tour de France, and he has been competing for prizes since his first day as a pro. He is loved by the public, just like Tadej Pogacar. A bond has also developed between Remco and Tadej, unlike with Jonas Vingegaard. With these three, we can expect great battles."

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Will the Tour de France become even less boring?

In Belgium, analysts are already looking ahead to Evenepoel's future in the Tour. According to them, he can only win if the parcours is tailored more to his strengths. This call seems to be heard by course designer Thierry Gouvenou, who expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the dull, flat stages in an interview with RTBF. "The crashes in the spring had a huge impact on this Tour. Vingegaard was clearly not at his best, and Evenepoel was no match for Pogacar, who has reached a level never seen before. On paper, it looked good: four leaders who had to fight for three weeks. The parcours was designed to ensure a battle until the end."

In the coming years, Gouvenou seems intent on making the Tour even more challenging. "I have seen fantastic stages, but I have a problem with the sprint stages. For hours, nothing happens because the scenario is predetermined. I want to reduce the number of mass sprints because we need to show a different face of cycling. We need more dynamism, not trains riding motionless. We understand there are moments of rest, but the sprint stages were systematically frozen."