“Remco is someone who knows exactly who he can and cannot handle" - Soudal - Quick-Step praises Evenepoel's maturity as Tour de France podium looks likely

On his Tour de France debut in 2024, Remco Evenepoel has acquitted himself much better than many were expecting. Despite some time loss to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on stage 14, the Soudal - Quick-Step leader sits 3rd overall after 14 stages, with a comfortable near four minute lead over 4th placed Joao Almeida.

"It was a good day," insists Soudal - Quick-Step's Klaas Lodewyck in a post-stage interview with Het Nieuwsblad, despite the Belgian's time loss to his two main Maillot Jaune rivals. "There was a killer pace all day. We realized pretty quickly that UAE Team Emirates wanted to go for the stage. I think we got the most out of this stage and got some extra bonus on the chasers, so that was good."

“In the end we just said that we had to adapt to the circumstances of the race, so when we saw that UAE wanted to go for the stage, it was just a matter of protecting Remco as long as possible, so that he certainly didn’t catch any wind and always sat well at the front on every climb to stay out of the danger zone," continues Lodewyck's assessement. "He then had to ride that final climb as quickly as possible without completely exploding.”

In thee end, only Pogacar and Vingegaard managed better than Evenepoel, making sure the podium looks very likely on Tour de France debut. “Remco is someone who knows exactly who he can and cannot handle, you can see that in his time trial, which he almost always completes to perfection. He really knows what kind of power is feasible and what is not. We now have to estimate well in the Tour what is feasible," continues Lodewyck. "If you are the strongest in the Vuelta and you can do a little more than someone else, you can sometimes force something and take risks, but here it was clear that after that very steep section you really had to find your own pace or you would completely destroy yourself.”

With stage 15 however, more challenges are posed. “Tomorrow will be fast from the start. For us it might be good that UAE wins that stage today and takes a bit more lead, that might make them a bit less nervous. We especially have to make sure that the guys behind Remco don’t join the breakaway and then finish that finale as well as possible. We are very happy with our Tour so far. Now we just have to get through tomorrow well and then have another well-deserved rest day,” concludes Lodewyck.