The Belgian road bike world champion Remco Evenepoel will not start at the Tour de France. The young star confirmed this on the sidelines of the Tour de Suisse.
“There were talks, but very quickly it became a no,” said Evenepoel, who was the top favorite in the Giro d’Italia, but had to give up there because of a corona infection after two stage wins and wearing the pink jersey. After that, there was speculation about the 23-year-old starting on July 1st in Bilbao in the Tour of France.
Evenepoel: “A logical decision”
“I prepared for the Giro for six months and was in top form. Then I was off the bike for ten days and it’s not easy to get in shape for a race like the Tour,” said Evenepoel, who added: “If When I start the tour, it’s all in. I want to be 150 percent in shape. That wasn’t possible, so it’s a logical decision.”
Evenepoel, who is compared to the legendary Eddy Merckx in his home country, has not yet started the tour. After his Vuelta victory in 2022, he wanted to win the Giro this year and then tackle the Tour in 2024. “I’ll definitely be there in the future. You have to be patient,” said Evenepoel, who won the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year like last year. A duel between last year’s Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard and two-time champion Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia is expected again this year.