"I can't pinpoint just one thing" - Remco Evenepoel opens up about Tour de France departure and potential problems

Remco Evenepoel spent his 2025 season with the Tour de France as the main goal in mind, but that has ended today on stage 14. The Belgian rider, leader of Soudal - Quick-Step, has struggled with the accumulation of climbing and has not been able to reach his best level. As a result, he abandoned the race today after feeling empty right at the start of the Col du Tourmalet.

"Having a bad day once in a while is possible. But three bad days in a row isn't something I normally experience, so it was the best option. It was actually Klaas [Lodewyck] who told me to quit," Evenepoel said in an interview following the stage to the media present at the Soudal - Quick-Step bus, including Wielerflits.

The Olympic Champion dropped early in the day, and with 100 kilometers of high mountain action, he decided not to continue the race after his GC ambitions had fully faded. He does not know what the reason for his physical issues is.

"No idea. I can't say anything about that yet. We'll investigate and see what happens. Everyone knows I've had a terribly bad winter. But we'll all take another look. Maybe there's something wrong with my body. I can't necessarily say anything at this point."

It will be with time that the situation will be better understood, but he throws out several possibilities: "I basically couldn't do any training. I couldn't handle any intensity. Fatigue, my body just not being good enough this year, it could be anything... I can't pinpoint just one thing."

Still, the Tour is not a disaster taking into consideration what he has achieved, and is already trying to look forward. "I won a stage and was in third place for a long time. Up until today, things were looking pretty good, but today it just didn't work out. I could have easily finished in the gruppetto and continued, but who knows, maybe I'll just ingrain my bad feeling and not race in September either."