"I talked to Remco and he said he’s never going to do the Giro again" - Jay Vine's revelation

Jay Vine will team up with Tadej Pogacar this season in an attempt to conquer the Giro d'Italia. Alongside that discussion, the Australian also reveals that in a conversation with Remco Evenepoel, the Belgian said that he may never again ride the Corsa Rosa.

“Hopefully a stage win of something, anything. Hopefully an Olympic selection, too, and hopefully no injuries. I just want to race my bike, do my job well and enjoy it," Vine said in an interview with Cyclingnews. Vine was set to race the Tour Down Under in January, but after sealing his plans of racing the Giro and Vuelta a España, changes were made and he will follow a traditional calendar.

Vine will race the UAE Tour, Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya. A calendar fully focused in evolving on the stage-races, and in the latter he teams up with Tadej Pogacar. The duo, key part of the Giro d'Italia block, will then take on altitude training and finally arrive at the start of the Italian Grand Tour in Venaria Reale.

“Going in there with Tadej, he’s usually a frickin’ favourite to win any race he starts at, so that’s going to be incredible being with the guy who’s 50% on it to win the race overall. It’ll be spectacular. Tadej is going to do Tadej things," Vine believes.

It will be an exciting race for the Australian who is signed with UAE Team Emirates until 2027. This past season he had slight GC ambitions at the Giro, looking to test himself, and he believes that he will still have the opportunity to do so even if in a domestique role for Pogacar. “I don’t think it’ll take away my chances, Jumbo-Visma just podiumed in a grand Tour with three guys,” Vine argues. 

“And the same goes in Catalunya. Especially if you have three climbing days, it should be pretty straightforward. Finally, it is just about the strongest person on the day. Depending on who we take, if we take the majority of the Giro team, we should have plenty of guys to work and let them talk it through themselves.”

Vine concludes with an interesting revelation, regarding Remco Evenepoel. Although it may have been said as a joke - it is not clear - he shares the words of the Belgian: “I talked to Remco and he said he’s never going to do the Giro again." This comes after his two abandons from the Giro, as he now focuses on the Tour de France after a streak of bad luck.