"Win or not: he will definitely leave his mark on the proceedings. I'm convinced of that" - Christian Prudhomme responds to doubting of Remco Evenepoel's Tour de France hopes
CyclingThursday, 30 November 2023 at 18:30
For the first time in his career, Remco Evenepoel will contest for the Maillot Jaune at the Tour de France in 2024. Is he a serious contender for overall victory though? That is a question that has split many of cycling's experts.
Whilst Belgian cycling expert Johan Museeuw doubted Evenepoel's chances whilst on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club Podcast, saying; "I am not sure that he can win the Tour," the French Grand Tour's head honcho, Christian Prudhomme is in no doubt that the Soudal - Quick-Step leader is more than capable at competing with the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.
"What struck me in the past Vuelta, apart from his exceptional skills and the fact that he capitalized on them from his first steps in the professional peloton, was his resilience and resilience to fight back after that blow on the Tourmalet. I feared he would give up. But he didn't do that," Prudhomme explains in conversation with the Belgian media. "Ride after ride he continued to look for success. He attacked from afar and delivered an incredible spectacle. In that sense, I consider him the classification favourite for the 2024 Tour de France."
"Not the top favourite, that status is reserved for Vingegaard and Pogacar," he clarifies. "But that sometimes unexpected craziness in him can cause him to turn everything upside down. I remember a quote from the young Luis Ocaña. 'I don't know if I will win the Tour, but I will certainly have an influence on it,' he said. Well, that also applies to Evenepoel. Win or not: he will definitely leave his mark on the proceedings. I'm convinced of that."
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- Backstedt and Schreiber are not juniors they are under 23. There were I think about 7 or 8 juniors in this race. Under the current rules a race that has juniors in can't go over 45 minutes. The winning time was 43.53 so the timing was correct. The organisers are in the wrong because they should be putting on a juniors race and then we wouldn't be in this situation as the timings for the elite race would be 50 minutes, not 45.NorrisHippocampe19-11-2024
- It's everywhere. Just like it was before. But we can just pretend it isn't. Just like we did before.Sweep19-11-2024
- Not a top 4 GT rider? He's got more GT wins (just not at the Tour) than any viable active rider (Froome not included). Were it not for his team messing it up for him, he'd have won the Vuelta even more often. He's a bizarrely accident prone, deeply conservative rider, but it delivers. He's also one of the best 1-week GC riders in the peloton. The man may not be Pogacar or Vingegaard (who is?), but he is definitely in the top 3 of the field, right now.RidesHills19-11-2024
- Nobody is saying that he is tin he Top 4 GT riders but nobdy is also saying he is capable of winning the TDF in the presence of Pog and Jonas. He was already fairly blown away before his crash and if we assume that Bora hired him to win the TDF, then it would not be considered a success. That he won the Vuelta only make it not a total fail.abstractengineer19-11-2024
- "The viewing and visitor figures are both better than when they were riding" - what a BS. Please compare (and only then) visitor figures during current season vs when WvA and MvdP are back in December (hopefully!) otherwise you are comparing oranges to apples.averagecyclist19-11-2024
- I counted 16 riders under 24 out of 43 that started. Once was only 16 ! Two of the top riders are Zoe and Schreiber and both under 23 yet that have done 50 min races in the past with the elites so I think it's just bad clock management. Let them race 50 freakin' minutes! One more lap could have made a big dffierence most times in the podium and winner.frieders319-11-2024
- He needs to finish out his contract and then go hit MTB and Cross/Gravel really hard, that's where his heart is.awp18-11-2024
- Pidcock is starting to sound like Froome now.Sweep18-11-2024
- I think this was because there were junior women in the race. If a race has junior women am pretty sure it has to be less than 45 minutes. I believe a rule is coming in for next season that will fine organisers that don't put on a junior women's race a fine equivalent to the prize money. So fingers crossed we should see more longer elite and junior women's races from next season.NorrisHippocampe18-11-2024
- Of course he CAN. Big salary in cycling is not when you win but when they talk about you (and your team / sponsors). For every news about Jonas, MVdP or Wout there are 10 times more(!) news about Pidcock (like everyday for last 2 months?). Since cycling is advertising sport not competitive sport (in terms of from money comes from) Pidcock is winner and GOAT - change my mind. ;-)averagecyclist18-11-2024