"After all the celebrations I got a bit sick" - Remco Evenepoel returns to racing at Tour of Britain without pressure of expectation

Remco Evenepoel had himself a very successful summer. After podiuming his Tour de France debut, the Belgian starred at the 2024 Paris Olympics, doubling up with gold in both the road race and the individual time trial. After such epic results, the celebrations were equally as epic.

"After all the celebrations I got a bit sick upon arrival in Spain, probably because of the decompression. My body could finally let go of all the stress," Evenepoel reflects of his post Olympic celebrations in conversation with HLN. "I was really sick, which made it quite difficult to train again afterwards. But all in all I recovered well."

Now though, a return to racing is looming for the Soudal - Quick-Step leader, with Evenepoel set to race the Tour of Britain for the first time in his career. Despite himself and Tom Pidcock being the two big name presences on the startlist though, Evenepoel insists he's heading to the United Kingdom without any pressures of expectation.

"It is a very specific course here. The first three days will be full-on racing. The classification will mainly be made then," he previews of the stage race. "Results do not really matter to me, the most important thing is that I leave this Tour of Britain with a better feeling than the feeling I had when I arrived here."

“In previous races, I have often done the lead-out for other fast men. But I definitely want to help Paul Magnier," continues Evenepoel, eluding to his role in the team. "That last push in 5 kilometres can help me to improve. It is a race without performance obligations, which will hopefully allow me to take a big step forward.”

After the Tour of Britain however, Evenepoel will not, as had first been expected, head to the European Championships. “Because I was a bit ill, the feeling during training was not great. Knowing that this Tour of Britain would have to go straight to the European Championships... Then you lose quite a few days due to travelling and so on. It is more convenient to fill those days with specific training for the World Championships," he explains. "Because honestly, I would rather win a World Championship title than finish third twice at a European Championship.”