“He is exposed, but he can defend himself well” – Alessandro Petacchi previews Remco Evenepoel’s Tour de France

With under two weeks to go until the Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel is training with renewed intensity after finishing fourth at the Critérium du Dauphiné. While the result was far from disastrous, the Belgian remains some way off the level of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, and the pressure is mounting.

One of the biggest concerns is his team. Soudal – Quick-Step simply doesn’t have the climbing depth of UAE Team Emirates or Team Visma | Lease a Bike. At the Dauphiné, Evenepoel was often left to fend for himself. Worse still, Mikel Landa, brought in specifically to support him at the Tour and did so brilliantly last year, will miss the race following a heavy crash at the Giro d’Italia.

But former pro Alessandro Petacchi, who rode for Quick-Step during his own career, believes all is not lost. “Last year he was also behind at the Dauphiné and then he did well,” Petacchi told Bici.Pro. “This year in the end he lost less, he has a good weight, despite having raced less because of the accident last winter. I would say that he focused his entire season on the Tour de France.”

Petacchi admits Evenepoel will suffer on the climbs, but points to the Caen time trial as a key opportunity. “On the climbs he pays a little to Pogacar and Vingegaard, but in the time trial he is stronger and the one in Caen, which I saw, is very suited to his characteristics.”

Evenepoel won the time trial at the Dauphine, and looked superb. What is encouraging for him, is that he won the time trial at last year’s Dauphine and finished seventh on GC, before going on to finish third at the Tour with a stage win and the white jersey. The problem, is likely the fact that Remco is not here to celebrate third, he wants to win.

The challenge will be surviving the mountains without losing too much. “He is exposed, quite exposed compared to the other two,” Petacchi concedes. “But he will be able to run on the defensive: this will be his leitmotif. And all in all, if you run on them you can defend yourself well and you have the possibility of wasting as little as possible during the stages. Not only that, but if Remco were to make that little extra step uphill, he can stay with them up front more easily. Then when the race explodes it will be mostly about legs.”

Last year, Evenepoel spent much of the mountain stages riding in no mans land. Far ahead of the rest of the field, but still a way off Pogacar and Vingegaard. For now, it seems that that will likely repeat itself in July.

There are also questions around team selection. Tim Merlier will be present for Soudal – Quick-Step, targeting sprint wins, but could his inclusion hurt Evenepoel’s GC ambitions?

Petacchi doesn’t think so. “Merlier is a good fit for me at the Tour and could even be of help to him, because he can also pull, he moves well in the group,” he said. “And then what strong climber could they have brought in his place? The other two teams would have been stronger anyway.”

There’s no doubt that Merlier deserves to be at the Tour, and he will be one of the favourites for the first yellow jersey on stage 1 in Lille. The question is, can Quick-Step manage a dual focus the same way a team like Visma can?

Young Belgian Ilan Van Wilder remains a key climbing asset for the team. “Let's not forget that for the climb they also have Van Wilder, who is a young guy, he has already done a Giro and did well.”

Petacchi also acknowledged the recurring transfer rumours linking Evenepoel to INEOS Grenadiers, a team with far more resources than Quick-Step. “The rumors that he wants these two teams are reborn at every transfer market session,” he said. “Ineos is often talked about. There would be many strong people there, even for the climb: Arensman, De Plus…”

But Petacchi insists the current Soudal – Quick-Step squad isn’t the problem. “At the moment his team is this one. They had taken Landa from him, and that's not a small thing, but if he got hurt then no one can do anything about it. Put Landa, Cattaneo, Van Wilder for the climb, two or three rouleurs for the flat and you're fine… despite the sprinter.”

“I repeat, the team, net of the names they have in the roster, is excellent: they are missing Landa. It is a great team. I have been there and it is true that they are still transforming, but it takes time. It is a bit like before: you don't win the cobblestone classics, but if you don't have Pedersen, Van Aert or Van der Poel who do you go with? They ended up with Remco, who is good for certain classics and for the Grand Tours and on this, slowly, they are building the team.”