"Down to the last millimeter" - Remco Evenepoel and Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe seek control and no racing before Tour de France

Remco Evenepoel's team have preached faith and confidence in their Tour de France preparations as Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe seek to deliver the former world champion to the Barcelona Grand Depart in the best shape and as relaxed as possible.

Control is fast becoming the key for the German team. With Evenepoel initially planned to compete in next month's Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but ultimately opted to skip the race. Evenepoel himself has been at altitude in Sierra Nevada having not raced since in over a month after his third place in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Finishing in third place at the 2024 Tour de France, the Belgian arrived at last year's edition after an injury-disrupted winter affecting his ability to repeat the performances that sealed him as the definitive next-best behind Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar the summer before.

Now part of Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe, both rider and team have opted for a patient and training-focused approach compared to the traditional preparation for July in France. At the core of it all, team sports director Patxi Vila believes the 26-year-old has already proven he can show up at big races sharp even without a warm-up race.

"In recent months, we've seen that Remco can reach a very high level without necessarily participating in preparatory races ," Vila said in an interview with La Dernière Heure. "We preferred to focus directly on the Tour, and we believe in this plan. This should allow him to arrive in Barcelona more relaxed and in better shape."

The specific approach has allowed them to tailor their approach to the last 'millimeter' with total focus on the Tour. "You never know how things will go, whether he'll be very fast or more relaxed. We want to maintain control of the workload, the motivation, the progress, and the schedule. We want to prepare him down to the last millimeter for the Tour."

Insinuating that Evenepoel is yet to reach the pinnacle of his form in training that comes with higher intensity and targeted sessions - Vila insisted that a house can't be built without its foundations.

The Sports Director highlighted "the foundations of the house, before more specific work in the coming weeks" as he indicated that the Belgian will focus on higher intensity training in the weeks before the Tour.

This year's Tour de France is already set to be one of the most exciting in recent years. With Florain Lipowitz also preparing for a general classification bid, Evenepoel knows that Pogacar and Vingegaard are the definitive top two to beat. But they're not alone after Paul Seixas confirmed his participation after the teenage sensation enjoyed an impressive opening to the season.