Evenepoel before the Tour de France
Favorite before Grand Départ: “Try to survive”
Updated on 03.07.2025 – 11:36 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The Tour de France starts on the weekend and promises excitement right from the start. Even a bike star is afraid of the first stages.
The Grand Départ of the Tour de France in Lille is coming up on Saturday. Then the best racing cyclists around Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck / Quick-Step / Soudal) fight for the yellow jersey and victory at the annual highlight. However, even Evenepoel dread the first stages that are expected to be decided in mass sprints, as he now revealed in an interview.
The two-time Olympic champion in road and individual time trial explained at “Eurosport”: “We will try to survive and survive the first ten days without any problems.” Then he added: “I’m looking forward to it? No, but I have to drive it. In the end we will see who left the battlefield without falling or injury.”
From the Evenepoel’s point of view, the starting signal for the struggle for the yellow jersey only falls in the second week of the tour. Then the Pyrenees lead the field into the high mountains for the first time – and the favorites should show themselves. Even Evenepoel had a serious training accident in December when he collided with a post -bus and suffered several fractures and lung bruels.
He now emphasized: “I had no real winter preparation, it is annoying. We have to see and accept from day to day how the tour will go.” In addition to the three stars mentioned above, Vingegaard’s ex-colleague Primož Roglič also leads a team. The Slovenian is a captain at the German Team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe.