"I’m going to miss him a lot" - Remco Evenepoel loses his 'bodyguard' at 2025 Tour de France on stage 7

Remco Evenepoel's hopes of improving on his 3rd placed finish from last year at the Tour de France were dealt a blow on Friday afternoon. Not through his own performances, as the Belgian impressed on a tough finale at the Mur-de-Bretagne, but through the abandon of one of his key domestiques.

“That’s a real shame,” Evenepoel admitted in a post-stage interview with VTM Nieuws after stage 7 of the 2025 Tour de France, referring to the abandon of Mattia Cattaneo part way through the day. "Mattia is my regular bodyguard out there. I’m going to miss him a lot, but the team made the right call. He’s been struggling with headaches ever since his crash in Rouen.”

Still though, Evenepoel is positive about how his own legs performed in the finale, losing just 2 seconds at the line to stage winner Tadej Pogacar. “I’m definitely pleased. I rode a strong finale and stayed out of trouble,” he assesses. “I just didn’t have the legs to sprint. Maybe I spent a bit too much time out in the wind, but that’s always easy to say in hindsight.”

His sports director at Soudal - Quick-Step, Tom Steels was also positive. “Remco was well-positioned from the start and felt good today,” Steels commented. “He wanted to ride his own finale, but Pogacar is just incredibly explosive.”

Now, the team's focus changes in the coming days though, with opportunity for sprint wins through European champion Tim Merlier, already a stage winner at the Tour de France in 2025. “Monday’s stage is going to be brutally tough — it’s going to hit hard. Until then, we need to stay completely focused," Steel concludes. "We've got two sprint stages coming up, so we’ll see what we can do for Tim Merlier. So far, we’ve got no complaints about our Tour.”