"The real test is the race itself" - Remco Evenepoel's coach confident that he will be in great form right after altitude camp

Remco Evenepoel has travelled from a training camp directly to the Clásica San Sebastián last summer, and immediately showed great legs into a dominant win before eyeing the Vuelta a Espana. This spring the World Champion finds himself in the same situation but with different events, but coach Koen Pelgrim is certain that Evenepoel will be at a very high level at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“In the past, Remco has often gone straight from an altitude training camp to a competition and that has always worked out well,” coach Koen Pelgrim told Het Nieuwsblad. “We are confident that the camp will not really be a factor. During the camp you also take into account the competitions they will ride before the Giro. The signals I have received are that no one has gone over their limit.”

Training towards the Giro d'Italia, Evenepoel's ambitions have revolved around stage-racing this year. He's won the UAE Tour and finished a close second to Primoz Roglic at the Volta a Catalunya - the battle that is expected to headline the Corsa Rosa. After spending some weeks at Mount Teide in Tenerife, he and his Soudal - Quick-Step block have returned to mainland Europe and are currently in Belgium, some of them racing the Ardennes classics.

Evenepoel has opted not to race Flèche Wallone, but he now comes in to attempt to defend his title at Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he will start with the number 1. “Of course there is a chance that Remco will not be able to perform optimally on Sunday. We're pretty sure he's fit, but you never know how that will play out in a 160-mile (258 kilometers, ed.) race. The real test is the race itself.”

Having evolved in his descending and sprinting he could very well prove to be a dangerous favourite for the race even if he doesn't ride solo off the front as was the case last year, but Evenepoel is above all keen on taking the win however way it is. Tadej Pogacar will be a very difficult rival to contest with, but the two are well balanced coming into the race - with the Slovenian perhaps slightly ahead.

“Winning a monument like Liège always provides extra motivation. Especially if you can start with number one as a world champion. Something like this might only happen once in a lifetime," he continued. "Remco is still going to Denia for this, where he will train at sea level and sleep at a altitude (an altitude tent, ed.) in the Syncrosfera Hotel."