Ahead of making his much-anticipated Tour de France debut later this summer, Remco Evenepoel's first race back since crashing out of the Itzulia Basque Country, has been a mixed bag it's fair to say at the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine.
After showing some good legs on the stage 4 individual time-trial as he thundered to the stage win ahead of INEOS Grenadiers' European champion, Joshua Tarling, Evenepoel spent a few days in the Maillot Jaune of overall race leader. Even with his time loss to general classification rival Primoz Roglic on stage 6, Evenepoel sat 2nd overall with a podium finish looking likely. On stage 7 however, the Soudal - Quick-Step leader was dropped with 7km of the final climb to go, eventually coming home in 13th position, losing 1:46 and dropping to 6th in the GC.
"Before the Dauphiné, I already told all the journalists: our riders have to be top at the end of June at the start of the Tour. Should Remco already be at his best level now, we have a problem. He would then have to stretch that for another six weeks," wrote Soudal - Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere in his column for Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday morning, citing Evenepoel's current weight as an issue on the climbs. "In weight, for example, Remco is not yet at Tour level now. Another kilo or a kilo and a half has to come off, which usually goes smoothly with him. After the Dauphiné, the Tour team will go on another stage to Isola 2000. There we will work on the last percentages."
How Evenepoel will go at the coming Tour de France remains up in the air however. After his disappointing stage 7, the Belgian wasn't getting too downhearted. "I understand that people may have doubts, but I don't care. This doesn't cross my mind. There is certainly still work to be done, but there is no reason to panic. I just have to get better,” he explained to Belgian media.
So now, we pose the question to you... How will Remco Evenepoel's GC challenge go at 2024 Tour de France? Use the poll down below to cast your vote!
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
Suffering through the process. The hard work continues. Thanks to my teammates to guide me through the day.🐺💙
3 Comments