"Remco is flying again" - Remco Evenepoel's teammates are impressed by the Olympic champion's level

Remco Evenepoel made it onto Tour de France podium last year in his first real attempt. This year, he's not working towards anything less than overall victory at the Grande Boucle. And according to reports from Soudal - Quick-Step teammates, it seems like the 25-year-old Belgian is more than ready for his mission.

"It was just really good. On all levels," Louis Vervaeke looks back on the training camp in the Sierra Nevada at Het Laatste Nieuws. "We worked hard, the atmosphere was really good, we had nice weather. One day of rain, but actually it were eighteen perfect training days. At the end it was really hot, but that was also positive: that was a good heat stimulus towards the Dauphiné and Tour."

Road captain Pieter Serry agrees with Vervaeke: "The whole team is good. The leader too, yes. You feel that as a teammate. When you are making a serious effort uphill and he passes you smoothly, then you know enough. He often did a block more than the rest, or trained an hour longer. He has also lost a lot of weight." One and a half kilos, his trainer Koen Pelgrim previously told Het Nieuwsblad.

"Remco is flying again," says Serry, who was also on altitude training with Evenepoel in the Sierra Nevada in March. According to the 36-year-old, the Olympic champion has made even further progress. "I don’t think he’s had a bad day in those three weeks."

"Last year it was stressful during the training camp. That was a race against time," he points out that Evenepoel's preparation was rushed after an earlier crash at the Itzulia Basque Country. "He couldn’t complete all his training then and that annoyed him. Now he was calm, I saw more focus. Of course he sometimes loses his temper, but that’s the way he is," he says laughing. "There’s still a pitbull in him: that’s also why he’s so good."