"He will certainly learn more in the coming week" - Jose De Cauwer urges Remco Evenepoel to take it easy on injury return at the Dauphine

For the first time in his career, Remco Evenepoel takes on the Criterium du Dauphine next week as a precursor to his Tour de France debut later in the month. Having just returned from injury though, this may not be the time to take risks.

"I think it is especially important for Remco that he does not do anything crazy and just lets the Dauphiné come to him," the vastly experienced Belgian cycling expert, Jose De Cauwer previews of the Dauphine in his analysis for Sporza. "He doesn't have to do this and he doesn't have to do that. Remco just has to ride and see where his body is after that fall in the Itzulia Basque Country two months ago."

Having suffered a lengthy lay-off following the aforementioned Itzulia Basque Country crash, Evenepoel himself has admitted he's taking a 'see how it goes' mentality to riding towards a general classification challenge at the upcoming Criterium du Dauphine. With potential Maillot Jaune rivals like Primoz Roglic also in their first race back from injury however, even a victory wouldn't say much for Evenepoel's condition believes De Cauwer.

"Suppose Remco wins that time trial, what does that mean? He may win against riders who are also returning from injury, but are not yet 100 percent," explains De Cauwer. "We are still not sure how far Remco will ever get in the Tour de France. Will we find out about that in the Dauphiné? No, we will have to wait until the Tour for that. But the Dauphiné is a nice step in that story, despite the fact that Remco is returning after a fall. He will certainly learn more in the coming week."

One positive for Evenepoel and Soudal - Quick-Step however, is that the Dauphine is the perfect place to fine-tune the team around the Belgian and test the legs of super-domestique Mikel Landa among others ahead of the Tour de France.