"We have a whole winter to prepare perfectly" - Remco Evenepoel's 2024 Tour de France preperation set to begin early

Remco Evenepoel is set to make a Tour de France debut in 2024, looking to become the first Belgian winner of the Maillot Jaune since 1976. Soudal - Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck already has a plan in mind.

"By mid-October it will really be time to completely chill out and disconnect for a few weeks and go on holiday with Oumi (his wife, ed.). I'm not saying he has to start over from scratch, but I am saying he should regain his full freshness," Lodewyck tells HLN, detailing the Belgian's plan for the remainder of the year.

In 2024 though, the Tour de France will stand high above any other goals Evenepoel may have for the year. "We have a whole winter to prepare perfectly, with a little pruning in the program and planning the season differently," Evenepoel himself explains. "I want to be at home more and have great confidence that the team will put together the perfect program so that I will be at the start of the Tour at 200 percent."

"I have an idea about how we are going to approach it in concrete terms. But after this season, we will first let Remco indicate when his batteries are one hundred percent charged again and he wants to work on it," Lodewyck adds. "It is also not yet entirely clear where exactly he will start the 2024 season, although we have already discussed it in limited circles. It won't be early anyway."