"I want to draw a line under what happened two years ago" - Remco Evenepoel plans return to Il Lombardia

The reigning Vuelta winner and the current world champion Remco Evenepoel has revealed he has four main targets in his sights for the 2023 season. "The big goals for next year will be the Giro d'Italia, Clásica San Sebastián, the World Championship time trial and the Tour of Lombardy.”

Speaking in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel revealed his hopes for the coming season. Alongside going for the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia, Evenepoel will also have another of Italy's biggest races in his sights. “In function of the Giro, I have to complete a long altitude training camp shortly before La Doyenne and you never know how you will come back from that. We'll see how I feel, but the focus will initially be on the Giro, which starts two weeks later."

Alongside the four races mentioned above, Evenepoel also hopes to return to Belgium to defend his title at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "It will be special," he says. "to race in Liège in my rainbow jersey, where I won my first Monument. I'm going to give everything I have in me and if I can, why not win a second time."

Evenepoel he had initially planned to visit Lombardy this year however a World Championship-winning hangover put that idea to bed. "This year, after the World Championshiops, I was no longer interested in continuing to Il Lombardia, I deliberately pushed that goal forward a year, to 2023," the Belgian says. "Now I really want to concentrate on it, with the aim of performing sportively and trying to win, but on the other hand also for an emotional reason. I want to draw a line under what happened two years ago.”