"I can count myself lucky that I sustained this injury in December" - 3 months later, Remco Evenepoel still needs another month until return to competition
Cycling
There's no such thing as having luck with a career-threatening crash, but taking into consideration circumstances Remco Evenepoel and Soudal - Quick-Step can be glad that this happened in the middle of the off-season. he Olympic Champion has talked a bit about his past months, spent on and off the bike but with no action in the peloton as of yet.
"After the season, I had a few nice holidays in Morocco and Qatar to watch the Formula 1 race there, among other things. So I have a very positive feeling about that. But the impact of that crash was of course very hard," Evenepoel told Wielerevue. "On the first day that I was going to start training in a structured way again, I crashed into that van".
The Belgian suffered fractures in his ribs, shoulder blade and right hand. It has truly put a massive obstacle in the way for the 2025 season as he had to spend an entire month without getting on top of a bike, and then another month of only indoor training. Now, he is finally training properly but will still take on a training camp with the Giro block before starting his season at the Brabantse Pijl on the 17th April.
"I found it hard to accept that I had ended up in this situation. Especially after my crash on the same side in the Tour of the Basque Country. I couldn't train normally for a long time. Not only could I not cycle, but also no strength training in the gym. So I have to come a long way this time. I know what it takes to get back into absolute top shape and that simply takes a lot of time," he describes.
However, this does not mean he will not be able to have a great year. “Yes, that also makes it a strange sensation. In the summer I won Olympic gold twice, so that is the absolute highlight. And a few months later you are in sackcloth and ashes. That is apparently how it can go as a professional cyclist. The contrast is very big," he knows well.
But missing out on all of the action during the months of January and December, crucial for team building and preparing the season, was a tough hit. "Especially in the period when everyone goes to training camp and you see the photos and videos from sunny Spain, while you yourself are lying in bed doing nothing. That is not easy.”
“I can count myself lucky that I sustained this injury in December. My classic spring will be brief because I absolutely want to be 100 percent in the Tour. If everything goes well in April, we may add the Tour de Romandie to my program," he reveals. "A few extra racing days can't do any harm in my case.
But the goal is clear: Tour de France and having the ideal preparation towards it. "After that I will copy my preparation from last year towards the Tour. Long altitude training camps, the Dauphiné, the national championships and the Tour. If everything goes well from now on, I have no doubt that I will be there during the Tour. Seven months should be enough to fully recover. I think it makes sense to have the Tour as the only main goal for the first part of the season.”
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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