Remco Evenepoel is looking forward with great confidence to the upcoming Tour of Switzerland. The Belgian from Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl spoke to the press on Saturday about next week’s WorldTour race. “I am glad this period has arrived.”
“This will be my second race in Switzerland,” Evenbühl began talking. I actually rode the Tour de Romandie in my first year as a professional. It rained quite a bit at the time and it wasn’t a big goal because I had just turned pro by then. I finished the 15th trial and rode the break for a day, so it wasn’t too special.
Evenepoel: “Every rating rider wants to win here”
Evenpole meets many of the guys who go to the Tour de France, but he doesn’t see a direct difference between his approach and that of the Tour’s men. “Every GC rider who starts here wants to win too. It’s a very beautiful race, so I don’t think they are going to run it any differently than me.
“It’s a strong peloton, but that’s always the case in races like the Tour de Suisse and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Everyone will want to win,” Evenepoel points out to the strong INEOS Grenadiers team, among others. “I will be benchmarking myself against the Tour candidates, but I am confident. I feel good, the feeling on the bike is fine and everything is going well with me.
Evenpole says he’s been looking forward to this period for a long time. “I see it as a great experience, eight days of racing. Every day is difficult, so it will be a difficult week,” the Belgian said of Switzerland. “It will be two important weeks, with this race first and then the Belgian championship. I have been looking forward to it since the start of the season and I am happy that this period have arrived.”
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Evenpoel sees the long climb as an important test
He says that the commander of Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl will not throw his troops. ‘Other teams will attack more than us, given the trial time of about thirty minutes. I can get time there, so that might be an advantage for me’, he cautiously looks forward to the last day. ‘That doesn’t make it easier on tough days though,’ Friday and Saturday we get a very long climb. There I have to limit losses, this is the most important. Sunday will be Everyone is outside To get as much time back as possible, but they would definitely attack me in the days leading up to that.
So don’t assume we’ll see Remco for the first few days, unless… “It depends if I’m going to try something. I need all the energy on that one hour climb, so you’d be better off saving me. But, if the opportunity presents itself.” After all, it’s a great WorldTour race and winning will satisfy me too. However, the mountain stages on Friday and Saturday are crucial, and the process towards those stages begins tomorrow.”
‘When am I satisfied?’ I can’t do more than give the cap, but I’m here to go for the podium or the top five, even Evenpool carefully put the numbers on it. “Winning a stage would be great, but it is also important to have a stable week at a high level. I would like to maintain my level in Norway.
Tom van der Salem (Twitter: TomvanderSalm) | Email: [email protected])
