"I knew it would be a bloodbath" - Patrick Lefevere on Visma-Quick-Step rumours; Giro-Tour plans for Remco Evenepoel

Remco Evenepoel is fully focusing on the Tour de France this year as Grand Tour plans. Initially, the route did not please him and he considered racing the Giro d'Italia, but Patrick Lefevere reveals that the team convinced him away from that plan.

"He first wanted to do the Giro and the Tour. That was also a bit about taking away the pressure. If he had finished on the podium in Italy, the pressure for the Tour would be a bit gone. Fortunately, our trainer talked him out of it, I didn't get involved," Lefevere reveals in De Rode Lantaarn podcast.

Evenepoel would ultimately have to face off with Tadej Pogacar, and have a very difficult task to go on to win the race. The plan was always to debut at the Grand Boucle this season, but the climber-suited route is not the best for the time-trial World Champion. Evenepoel is ultimately still racing the French Grand Tour but with more modest ambitions - with experience gaining also a goal.

2023 was the year to win the Giro for Evenepoel, but it wasn't to be as Covid-19 took him out of the race. "We could have earned a lot of money. Last year, the organization also paid a large sum for Evenepoel to ride the Giro, but because Remco dropped out due to corona, we did not get everything paid out," the team manager added. "That is really the Italian way."

Evenepoel is currently at the Volta ao Algarve and enjoying a very successful start to the season. He is gearing up towards Paris-Nice and the Ardennes classics in the spring, and will then follow a traditional preparation towards the Tour.

Lefevere also commented on the past merger rumours from Soudal - Quick-Step and Team Visma | Lease a Bike which rocked the cycling world for some weeks. "...I knew it would be a bloodbath. Many would suffer from this, including riders. The only solution was to also keep a 'B team'."