Evenepoel points Primoz Roglic as main favourite for 2023 Giro d'Italia: "He can take time everywhere, whenever he wants"

It is still January but the psychological battle for the Giro d'Italia has begun already for some weeks. Remco Evenepoel is touted by many as the man to beat, but the Belgian talks dearly of Primoz Roglic and his ability to conquer the Corsa Rosa.

"I hope he can have a good preparation and has recovered well from his shoulder injuries. I just hope everyone can be in top shape and that it can be a very nice competition on a very hard course," Evenepoel said in a recent interview.

The two went head-to-head at the Vuelta a Espana last season, and entered the final week in first and second place. The battle for the red jersey seemed to be between the two, however Roglic crashed out in the final week as he attacked the race.

However, the Jumbo-Visma will be riding the Giro this season, as Jonas Vingegaard once again points towards the Tour de France. "Just looking at his palmarès, he'll be the best Grand Tour rider in the Giro next year. It'll be nice to race against him," Evenepoel commented on the Slovenian.

The course will feature around 70 kilometers of time-trialing and an extremely hard final week with several high-mountain stages and a brutal final mountain time-trial on the 20th day of racing. It's Roglic's versatility that worries Evenepoel.

"He really wants to take the risks to take some time, and he can do it on every kind of finish: punchy finish, uphill finish, even flat finish," the Soudal - Quick-Step rider aknowledges. "He's very strong and has a good sprint. He can take time everywhere, whenever he wants. That's something he we need to be careful of."

"The Giro is a new step in our career, a new experience, as a team as well," he said, with Soudal - Quick-Step having traditionally focused on sprinting and the Classics and a climbing unit still under construction. It's a big objective of mine for this year, but for sure, it's also the goal to take experience for the future as well," he adds, with the signing of Jan Hirt one clearly focused in improving the Belgian's support. 

"Everything was really clear for us after the Vuelta. What is good is we found the perfect balance between weight, power, food. I think we cannot expect any surprises anymore, talking about the preparation, so that's a relaxing feeling a few months before the Giro," he concluded.