"I don't believe in Paret-Peintre" - Former pro expects Remco Evenepoel will be isolated in the high mountains at Tour

Remco Evenepoel is one of the three main favourites to win the Tour de France this summer, but also the one who has drawn the shortest straw. Even if the Olympic champion reaches a level where he can compete with Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard in the high mountains, the winners of past five editions can still rely on support from their super teams. Not Remco.

His key man in the mountains was projected to be 5th man from last year's Grande Boucle - Mikel Landa, but the Basque climber was for a long time sidelined due to injuries suffered at the Giro d'Italia and in no way will be ready to play a decisive part in the biggest race of the season. Then the duty falls onto the shoulders of Soudal - Quick-Step's third best climber - Valentin Paret-Peintre.

The French climber was originally set to only ride the Giro as the right-hand man of Landa, but after his injury at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Paret-Peintre's schedule has been adjusted with Crterium du Dauphiné as his comeback race.

But it's not a stretch to say that he was far from shining in the Tour de France preparation race which did not escape the eye of Dirk De Wolf who already carried out his judgement over the 24-year-old's Tour debut: "I don't believe in Paret-Peintre. There's something wrong if a Frenchman is not good in the Dauphiné," the former pro is harsh in his assessment for Het Nieuwsblad.

Ideally, Paret-Peintre would replace Landa in his role of super-domestique in the mountains, but it seems more than likely that Evenepoel will be out on his own at the Tour: "Last year I heard about Landa: 'He was there, but he didn't have to do anything.' That's the thing of course: he was there. If you see your mate, you're already helped."