“I’m a bit more old school" - Geraint Thomas can't understand Remco Evenepoel's race-less Tour de France preparation

Remco Evenepoel raised a few eyebrows when it was announced he wouldn't be riding any preparation races before the Tour de France. The Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe star is preparing to share leadership with Florian Lipowitz this summer, and both riders are preparing away from the spotlight.

While Lipowitz will tog out for the Tour of Slovenia, Evenepoel knows the next time he pins a race number will be at the Grand Depart in Barcelona on July 4th. The Belgian last raced at Liège–Bastogne–Liège in April, and now faces an air of uncertainty around his exact shape come the big one next month.

The team have backed the rider's tunnel vision approach to his first Grand Tour since joining over winter, stressing that it allows them to fine tune every detail to ensure he arrives in the best possible shape.

From the outside however, some analysts and former riders have stressed that he should be in action before lining up against Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Paul Seixas at the Tour.

Geraint Thomas, a former rival to Evenepoel and current Netcompany Ineos Director of Racing, doesn't agree with the former world champion's strategy, claiming that he should race in advance.

“I don’t like that approach,” Thomas said on the latest episode of Watts Occurring podcast. “I’m a bit more old school. You’ve got to get out there. You’ve got to race it a bit.”

The Welshman wom the Tour de France in 2018 and believes that the mental approach to the Tour requires a preparation race. However, fellow host and former professional cyclist, Luke Rowe disagreed.

“I just can’t imagine just training up until the Tour. Surely there’s a psychological side to this as well.” to which Rowe disagreed: "What riders like now is the Remco approach. I know what my body needs to be ready for the Tour, and I’m going to go to my controlled environment.”

The four big favourites will not clash before the July 4th opening stage. Pogacar is on a mission to bulk up his palmares as he attempts to win his first Tour de Suisse, Vingegaard was recently crowned Giro d'Italia champion and is taking a break before re-focusing on July while Seixas is going after the traditional Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes preparation.

The French sensation will line out at the race, formerly known as the Criterium du Dauphine, a test Thomas believes provides a key indication of what the rider can expect this summer. But he emphasised the unknown due to the favourites' contrasting approaches.

“You got a real indication. Now you’ve got all these guys doing completely different things. So coming into the Tour will be very much unknown.”

For Thomas, Seixas' lofty ambitions and readiness debate is simple: “At 19 in the Tour de France, there’s no such thing as failure. Being on the start line is already a success.”