Remco Evenepoel has no regrets over skipping Tour de France: "It was clear pretty quickly that I wasn't in the shape to ride the Tour"

Remco Evenepoel has recently revealed the creation of the R.EV Academy, in which he will help develop young cyclists from Brussels. Talking to reporters over the event, he states that he does not regret skipping the Tour de France, and instead focus on the final months of t he season.

"This region is best known for football and rugby. I thought: wouldn't it be nice if there was a little more cycling in my native region?" Evenepoel told Sporza. "I thought about starting a small team, but that was too 'easy'. I wanted to do something more meaningful. It is more of a social project. We want to get children who don't have the means to cycle. The ultimate goal is to get a boy and a girl from our academy to the World Cycling Championships in Brussels in 2030."

Evenepoel will soon travel to an altitude training camp in Italy ahead of the World Championships, and most likely the Vuelta a Espana. Evenepoel finished the Tour de Suisse in third place, where he took a stage win, however he doesn't believe he had the form to race it. "It was clear pretty quickly that I wasn't in the shape to ride the Tour. It doesn't bother me much that I'm not there. It will be for another time."

Of course, Soudal - Quick-Step would not deploy as many resources in support of him, however it could serve as an opportunity to obtain experience in what is likely to be his biggest goal in 2024. "I will definitely follow the Tour, but use that as motivation for what's to come and for when I will ever start it myself to stand," he concluded.