Due to his crash in the Basque Country and a subsequently quiet return to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine, not many thought Evenepoel could mix it up at the Tour de France against both Pogacar and
Jonas Vingegaard in the way he did. Earlier in the year however, the Belgian had already shown some good form on French soil, finishing 2nd overall at Paris-Nice. "Paris-Nice is a race I absolutely want to go to again. I was very stable that spring, I improved steadily. But because of the rehabilitation of my collarbone and shoulder blade fractures, I automatically ran out of time for the Tour," he assesses. "I had to go from zero to top in two months. My form was worse in May than at the end of the winter break."
As mentioned though, in the Tour de France, Evenepoel put in arguably one of the most impressive performances of his career, keeping pace with Pogacar and Vingegaard for much of the three weeks, eventually finishing a comfortable 3rd. "I more or less knew what level Pogacar would reach, which made it easier to formulate a realistic ambition. From the moment that he and Vingegaard pushed hard uphill, I had to find my own pace in order not to explode. That way I got the most out of it," he analyses, noting there is still room to improve. "Above all, we have to work on the approach and my data on those final climbs. And possibly adjust certain training methods, so that I can last longer and lose less time in the coming years."
"I have made my dreams and goals clear from the start: here, in this team, I want to win classic Monuments and the three Grand Tours and become world champion," he concludes. "I have already achieved quite a lot of that. But there is still more to come. As for the Tour: not a simple mission. Very labour-intensive. Only achievable in the right, fine-tuned structure."
