Remco Evenepoel announces heavily delayed season debut
The double Olympic champion is in a race against time
Soudal Quick-Step rider is in a race against time to find form for his big goal of the year, the Tour de France. His initial plan was to train over the winter and begin racing in March. But after being doored Dec. 3, that is impossible.
“My initial plan was to return to racing in the Ardèche and the Drôme Classic. But all of that has changed,” he said in an interview with La Dernière Heure. “If I can restart training outside by February 4-5, I’ll only have three weeks in the legs before those two races.”
Focusing on the Ardennes Classics
He said Friday that he has only one thing on his mind: to be at the start of the Flèche Brabançonne. He would then follow it up with the three other Ardennes Classics. And he wants to win them.
The 2025 Flèche Brabançonne is scheduled for April 18. The Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège fall on April 20, 23, and 27 in 2025.
No Giro…probably
He said racing the Giro will be too soon. But he’s not saying it’s impossible. But one thing is clear, his main goal for 2025 will be the Tour de France.
On Dec. 3, Remco Evenepoel was taken to the hospital after colliding into the door of a postal vehicle while out on a training ride. The incident happened when the door of a mail delivery van swung open unexpectedly. That caused Evenepoel to collide with it. His injuries were numerous. After being diagnosed at the hospital, his team confirmed he suffered fractures in his right shoulder blade, ribs, and a broken wrist.
Earlier in 2024, he suffered a setback to his season. It forced him to readjust his racing program. He was part of the brutal crash in April at the Tour du Pays Basque that derailed his, Primož Roglič’s, and most notably, Jonas Vingegaard’s season.
However, he did go on to take an unprecedented double gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning both the time trial and the road race, in dramatic fashion.