"His team is not yet ready" - Why Evenepoel has opted for the Giro instead of the Tour in 2023

As Remco Evenepoel has announced, it will be the Giro d'Italia for him in 2023, with the Belgian opting not to go for yellow at the Tour de France. Commentator Renaat Schotte believes the decision was made easy for him as "his team is not yet ready".

"I don't think there was much doubt at Quick Step when the decision between Giro and Tour had to be made. After all, the courses spoke for themselves." Schotte told Sporza. Key to that decision are in Schotte's opinion at least, two main reasons. Firstly, "the Giro will contain about 70 kilometers against the clock, in the Tour the riders will have to make do with just one climbing time trial." And secondly, "I think Evenepoel is already ready for the Tour, he has already shown that, but his team is not yet ready."

With 31-year-old Czech climber, Jan Hirt the only real reinforcement brought in by Quick-Step, Schotte believes the likes of Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates will have too much strength in depth. "Quick Step is not ready for that yet, Patrick Lefevere will be the first to confirm that," he says. "Basically the same guys as in the Vuelta: Van Wilder, Serry, Vervaeke... In the Tour they would then have to compete against round teams such as those of Jumbo-Visma or UAE, that is too early."

Evenepoel also has a score to settle with the Giro after a crash on stage 17 of the 2021 edition saw him exit the race and lose a chance at his first-ever top 10 finish at a Grand Tour. "Do not underestimate the motivation of a top athlete to take revenge after a failure - which the Giro of 2021 was in his eyes" Schotte concludes.