"That rest period has done minor wonders for my body" - Remco Evenepoel fresh and ready for 2024 after a busy year

Remco Evenepoel only began training for the upcoming season in late November. Although recently on a training ride he's put out impressive numbers, he tells that this is shortly after a prolonged resting period after a very packed 2023 season.

“It has of course been difficult, but now everyone is looking forward to next season. Everyone is ready to go through fire for each other. I was also drawn into the story myself. It's not something I wanted or asked for myself. I just had to follow it all," Evenepoel admits to Het Nieuwsblad regarding his and Soudal - Quick-Step's ambitions to target the Tour de France. Currently, he and most of his teammates are in Calpe preparing for the upcoming season and putting in the work to be in form for the spring.

He tells how the DNF from last year's Giro d'Italia impacted him dearly: “After I dropped out of the Giro d'Italia with Covid, everything became a bit crazy. I have to admit that I've been listening to the stories too much. So I lost some of my self-confidence. I was surprised at how great some of the details in the outside world were made. Things that often weren't even right. It was an uneven course for our team, but now we are looking ahead.”

Nevertheless, Evenepoel recovered and won the Clásica San Sebastián alongside the Belgian road race championships and the world time-trial championships. At the Vuelta a España he looked to compete for the red jersey, but had a tough day on stage 13 and let go his GC ambitions. Nevertheless, he came out of it with three stage wins, the KOM jersey and a few days in red. He ended his season at Chrono des Nations. “I took two extra weeks of vacation. I started again at the end of November, but I also stopped on October 15. The rest did me good. I was able to forget everything. That rest period has done minor wonders for my body.

"I can give myself a hard ride again on the bike. I have energy that I haven't felt in a long time. Knowing that I am finally going to the Tour motivates me to do everything 100 percent in my training and my diet," he concludes.