Dirk De Wolf: "Even with Tadej Pogacar & Jonas Vingegaard at the start, Remco Evenepoel can win the Tour de France"

On his Tour de France debut, Remco Evenepoel was the clear best of the rest behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, giving Belgian cycling hope that their long wait for a new winner of the Maillot Jaune might finally be coming to an end in the not too distant future.

Former Belgian cycling pro and 1992 Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner, Dirk De Wolf was left incredibly impressed by Evenepoel's performances over the last few weeks in France. "I have been texting Remco almost every day," the 63-year-old says in quotes collected by HLN. "He has done fantastically and has gone through an enormous learning process. Third in the final classification, the white jersey, a stage win... Chapeau! It is pure enjoyment to watch him in action."

What about the future though? Can Evenepoel be the man to break that Pogacar - Vingegaard stranglehold over the fight for the Maillot Jaune of the Tour de France? De Wolf is very optimistic about the Soudal - Quick-Step leader's chances. “He knows his areas for improvement and he knows them. For example, he needs to be able to ride uphill even faster and respond to the accelerations of the competition even better,” the vastly experienced Belgian explains.

“If we have a little more patience, we will see a lot more of 'that little one'. Against big names like Pogacar and Vingegaard it is of course not easy, but even with them at the start Remco can win the Tour de France," De Wolf concludes. "That Pogacar was superior now? That could completely change within a few years. Remco can still get better and Pogacar will not always have the legs with which he rode this Tour. I already rate his third place in the Tour de France much higher than his final victory in the Vuelta a Espana.”