Remco Evenepoel has defined himself as a virtual generational talent. He's taken massive wins this year, however somehow none have been directly against Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard. The Belgian is looking to change that.
He is scheduled to race the UAE Tour in late February where he is quite likely going to face defending champion Tadej Pogacar. “That is indeed the plan at the moment, but it’s not yet completely certain. The Volta ao Algarve also has some nice time trials, so that could also be an option," he told Het Nieuwsblad.
"It would be good to compete with Tadej on a race where he has already won twice. He will be in top form there anyway, because for his team it’s kind of like the World Championships. We’re still looking at what the best option is. For now, only San Juan, Liège and the Giro are already 100% certain," he continued.
Evenepoel will be racing the Giro d'Italia this year, hence his focus will be on the stage-races early in the year. He will be starting his season and debuting a new rainbow jersey at the Vuelta a San Juan. His expected schedule includes the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico before training towards Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Giro.
The Corsa Rosa will be the main goal however. “It will come down to using our strength sparingly, because the centre of gravity is in that third week, with another monster of a time trial on the penultimate day. I hope to explore a few more stages, but it's not easy to schedule that. I like what I've seen so far. It is a nice course, I’m happy with my choice of the Giro," he said.
As Pogacar and Vingegaard confirm their focus in the Tour de France, for another year it seems as if the three won't face each other in aa Grand Tour. “Yes, yes. But personally, I mainly look at the route of the Grand Tours, and whether there are nice time trials in it or not," Evenepoel continued, justifying his decision to step away from the Tour this year.
Besides being a route designed for the pure climbers, the lack of proper mountain support in comparison with Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates is a key factor, whilst racing the Tour in 2024 provides some more time to build a mountain block. The Tour ambitions of Fabio Jakobsen and Julian Alaphilippe naturally play a role aswell.
"And the time trials in the Giro appealed to me the most in the Giro for 2023. I hope to meet them soon, why not in one-week stage races and hopefully soon after that in a Grand Tour," Evenepoel concluded.
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