"Tadej and Jonas have shown figures in the Tour that I have already achieved" - Remco Evenepoel on Vuelta a Espana expectations and comparison to the best

Remco Evenepoel is returning to Vuelta a Espana in the coming weeks and in his words comes a little stronger. He is also having to face tougher competition, in a recent interview he talked about his preparation for the upcoming Grand Tour and the Jumbo-Visma duo.

“The approach is the same. With three race days, including one time trial in advance, I can't completely kill myself either. I am already in better shape than at the same time last year, precisely because of the World Championships. In addition, as I see the Vuelta this year, there is a queen stage every week," Evenepoel told Wielerflits. "So I will have to stay fresh for the third week, but I must not lose three, four or five minutes in the first mountain stage. The upcoming Vuelta is all about choosing the right moments. That is necessary, because we had a typical grand tour of today: I expect a full race from the first stage to stage 21.”

Evenepoel abandoned the Giro and non-intentionally began his Vuelta a Espana preparation earlier. He rode and won at the Tour de Suisse and then the nationals. He then travelled to the Alps for an altitude camp and is following a Vuelta preparation that is very similar to last year's. Having won the Clasica San Sebastian again this weekend, it very much solidifies that argument. He's also spent some time in the Asturias doing a recon of some of the main stages of the race last week:

“It had to come out again, of course, unfortunately. I did indeed explore stages sixteen, seventeen and eighteen... The next day (stage 17, ed.) there is a finale on the Angliru. That is really a monster. But La Cruz de Linares a day later is certainly not easier. Not 20% like the Angliru, but about 15-16%. We also do that climb twice. All in all, it is super difficult in Asturias. Three spectacular days to start the last week with really great stages.”

Winner of the race last year, perhaps his biggest challenge is not himself, but with the strong competition he'll face. Geraint Thomas may be in the fight for the win after his feats at the Giro d'Italia, last year's third place Juan Ayuso also promises to be very dangerous in the mountains as will be teammate João Almeida, but perhaps most importantly is Jumbo-Visma who will take Giro winner Primoz Roglic and Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard together.

“I think everyone should be happy that the double winner of the Tour de France has another grand tour attached to it. It can only provide more spectacle in a Vuelta that is already going to be super difficult," Evenepoel argues. "For me personally it doesn't change much either, but I'm looking forward to racing against him. I also think that Jonas was not at his limit at all, if I still saw his face in the last mountain stages of the Tour. Maybe he will be two or three percent less than in the Tour de France. But with his qualities, at 97 percent, he is still ten percent better than many others in the suit.”

Soudal - Quick-Step changed plans and is bringing a strong support team for Evenepoel however he's already prepared to play a cold race, arguing that Jumbo-Visma will be the team with the responsibility of carrying the race. "I do think that Jumbo-Visma is the team that can carry the race. Let them do it, I say. We will try to follow. They have two top favorites at the start. With Roglič the winner of the youngest Giro and with Vingegaard the winner of the Tour."

"I also count myself among those two, although we have to write down the Tour winner as the absolute top favorite anyway. That makes more than sense. Jumbo-Visma also has a super strong team in the Vuelta. I like it. It is a valuable learning experience for me for next year. It's not just a school, though. We also try to perform.”

It will be a good test, Evenepoel's first Grand Tour battle against Vingegaard who, by all signals, should be racing the Tour de France against next year. So will the Belgian, and the question of how he compares to the Dane and Tadej Pogacar is one that also passes through his brain: "We will never know, maybe after next year's Tour. But if I can believe all the calculations that have been made on the basis of the watts per kilo, then Tadej and Jonas have shown figures in the Tour that I have already achieved."

"Although they did, of course, day after day. I think both of them have reached an incredibly high level this year, really impressive. Now it's up to me to work hard in the coming year so that I can take big steps forward to get close to those two super good and crazy drivers. I hope to be able to compete with them in 2024.”