Evenepoel's trainer reveals "he is now close to the best version of Remco" as the Giro d'Italia nears

Remco Evenepoel laid down a Giro d'Italia marker last weekend whilst taking his second successive Liege-Bastogne-Liege win and his trainer, Koen Pelgrim is confident the Soudal - Quick-Step star is near the peak of his powers.

"The difference with the rest was quite big. That is only good for us," Pelgrim reveals in conversation with Sporza. "But that is no guarantee that the Giro will automatically be a success. The main work must be done by now. Putting things right now would be difficult. We especially want to maintain this form and tighten it up a bit. But there will certainly not be much more."

Whilst of course, Pelgrim has full confidence in his rider to add the Giro d'Italia to his growing collection of impressive wins that already includes the Vuelta a Espana and the World Championship road race, he is aware the competition will be fierce. "If I look at his values, I would say that he is now around 100 percent of his abilities. You can still rise above yourself somewhere, but he is now close to the best version of Remco," Pelgrim declares.

"We also saw a very strong Primoz Roglic riding in Catalonia. He is one of the best tour riders of recent years and he has a fantastic time trial. So that will be a very difficult opponent," he continues. "But there are still competitors. Everyone thinks about that duel, but there is also Geraint Thomas, for example. And there are still round winners at the start. So I don't think it will be 1-on-1. We'll see how the form continues to develop and what happens in the course of course."