Having recently been confirmed to be making his much-anticipated return to racing at the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné on the 2nd of June, Remco Evenepoel is intensifying his preparations for an upcoming Tour de France debut with some altitude training in the Sierra Nevada.
Now fully recovered from his nasty crash at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year which left him with a fractured collarbone and a fractured scapula, Evenepoel has been training in the Sierra Nevada alongside his Soudal - Quick-Step super-domestique, Mikel Landa. In the latest proof to his encouraging level, Evenepoel has posted a monster ride to his official Strava account.
“Higher than Snoop Dogg,” captions the 24-year-old Belgian cheekily as he uploads a 158-kilometre, six-hour ride to his Strava. Climbing a total of 5,206 vertical meters, the former Vuelta a Espana winner is testing himself ahead of going head to head with the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic later this summer at the Tour de France.
As mentioned, Evenepoel was recently announced for a return to racing at the upcoming Criterium du Dauphine, with Roglic, who was also caught up in that horrific Itzulia Basque Country crash also set to get himself back into competitive racing ahead of the Tour de France. With the likes of Juan Ayuso, Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson, among others also set to compete at the traditional Tour de France prelude, it will the perfect test for a returning Evenepoel to see where he stands ahead of the main event of his season later this summer.
Whether or not the third Tour de France contender caught up in that Itzulia Basque Country crash on the 4th of April, Jonas Vingegaard will be able to make to the Grand Depart of the Grand Tour in Florence in just over a month however, remains to be seen.