Remco Evenepoel in tears after Tour de France podium: "People don't always realize how much negative comments can weigh on their shoulders"

Remco Evenepoel has achieved a lot throughout his young career including world titles, monuments and a Vuelta a España title, but certainly the podium he has achieved yesterday at the Tour de France is well among those. The Belgian rider has confirmed his status as a possible future winner of the Grand Boucle, and was very emotional in Nice as he proved himself after years of unreal pressure put on by the Belgian fans and media.

"A little bit of everything. You're also Belgian, you know that everyone always doubts me. From now on, that can be over," Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad in the press conference. "I have shown that I have taken a big step forward. I come third after the two best riders in the world, who together have now won the last five Tours." Evenepoel has put in the performance of a lifetime over three weeks, without losing unnecessary time anywhere, without being ill or injured, climbing alongside the very best on every single hurdle and even attacking the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on a few occasions.

Even on the high mountains and the third week there were never any signs that the Belgian was about to explode, a huge sign of relief after his 2023 Grand Tour plans went down the drain dramatically both at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. He decided to still focus fully on the Tour this year despite the route that did not apparently suit him too well, and despite the doubts that he had all throughout the spring and summer.

He was very far from the level he achieved at the Tour both in Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné, and with the injury suffered at Itzulia Basque Country, few even considered him as a major contender for the podium in France. "After the Dauphiné, there were a lot of questions: 'Did we know what we were doing with the team?' And actually it already started in Paris-Nice, where my second place was not good enough. So what was behind the tears? Certainly also the pressure from my home country. People don't always realize how much negative comments can weigh on their shoulders. I think that's where the emotions came from."

"This is perhaps a bit higher than my victory in the Vuelta," he states. Performance wise, it is very safe to say that, taking into consideration he was a whole 10 minutes in front of fourth place João Almeida, and only three minutes behind previous winner Vingegaard. "If I look at the power I have now, they are much higher than those from the Vuelta. I have become a better climber, especially at altitude. In my plans are to become a pure Tour rider, this podium means more to me than the victory in the Vuelta. Maybe I should focus a bit less on time trials," he adds, as a switch in priorities.

And the dream of winning the Tour de France one day has substantially grown over the past month. “Coming third now shows that the basis is there to perhaps win the Tour myself one day. But at the moment the gap is still big. I have to work on my own capacities first and foremost, by doing even more specific climbing training. Even greater efforts, even more specific work at altitude.”

Soudal - Quick-Step in the mountains was never actually forced to work, which worked in his favour, Evenepoel was happy that a team fighting for a top Tour result for the first time in ages was able to handle the task very well. Although Mikel Landa was barely an asset to Evenepoel during the three weeks, he was always present as a back-up and he himself rode to a brilliant fifth place in Nice.

“I don’t want to say anything bad about my team, but it is a fact that teams like Visma | Lease a Bike, UAE Team Emirates and even Movistar, for example, have much more experience in trying to win the Tour. For us, that is actually all new. Mikel Landa has joined the team and has already brought a lot of knowledge with him. If this Tour was the first step, then it was certainly not bad," he concluded.