"The rest of the season would have been over" - Quick-Step explain Remco Evenepoel's Tour de France departure

Soudal - Quick-Step had Mikel Landa abandon the Giro d'Italia on the first day, and now they also face a disaster at the Tour de France as Remco Evenepoel's exhaustion led to his withdrawal from the race. DS Toms Steels has talked about the Olympic Champion's situation and what led to him leaving the race.

Evenepoel, who had struggled during stages 12 and 13, was dropped in the early ramps of the Col du Tourmalet. After a few kilometers riding behind the peloton by about a minute, he pulled the plug on his second Tour de France.

"He didn't feel good, he didn't have the legs to suffer, I think the best thing was not to continue and recover as best as possible. He still has goals this season, maybe if he had continued the rest of the season would have been over," Steels shared with Eurosport.

The Belgian made it clear that his compatriot had not left the Tour de France at all happy, but that it was better to think about continuing with goals in 2025 than to continue to suffer on the bike without the aim of fighting for the overall classification anymore at the race.

"He was very disappointed to leave the Tour, he wasn't going to. The road World Championships and the time trial are his next objectives. You have to realize at the time, he has realized that something wasn't right, that he wasn't himself. We have to be careful not to go over the limit and not to lose months".

Asked at the end if they knew if he was ill, he said he did not know what had happened to Remco, and only wished he could resume training as soon as possible to be able to think about the end-of-season objectives: "We have to see what happens to him, maybe in a few days he gets sick. We'll see, hopefully he recovers as soon as possible and can continue training and continue."