Remco Evenepoel: ‘Rehabilitation is basically eating ice cream’
The Belgian is recovering after his crash in Spain, and is already riding the rollers
Remco Evenepoel’s recuperation from his recent injuries—a collarbone fracture and a fracture in the shoulder blade—is progressing well. These injuries happened two weeks ago during a significant crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. In his debut appearance on his team’s podcast, “The Wolfpack Howls”, he shares his current status with Soudal Quick-Step’s communications manager Philip Lowe, saying, “I truly have no grounds for complaint. I notice daily improvements in my body’s recovery, accompanied by a diminishing level of discomfort.”
“I feel good, much better than last week. Honestly, I can’t complain. I feel every day that the body is getting better and that the pain is getting less and less,” Evenepoel began. “I have become much calmer in rehabilitation. After my fall in Lombardy, I wanted everything to go fast, but now I really want the fracture to heal properly.”
Prior to this fall, Remco Evenepoel held an overly optimistic view regarding collarbone fractures. However, his perspective has shifted due to the challenges he has faced since the incident. He expressed, “From now on, that won’t be the case anymore, because I’ve had quite a bit of trouble with it.” The initial week following the crash proved particularly painful for him. Yet, starting from Monday or Tuesday, he began to experience improvements. He noted, “I can sleep normally again, so. It’s getting better, so everything is pretty okay.”
Thursday’s fourth stage of the Itzulia Basque Country injured both Evenepoel, as well as double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, as well as Primož Roglič.
“Primoz was lying next to me in the hospital. We had a short conversation. Wednesday I also sent Jonas Vingegaard a message, The time trial world champion said. For the rest, I saw updates about Jay Vine and some Belgian guys through social media.”
Evenepoel said he hasn’t been exactly watching what eats–but that’s OK.
“The first few days after such a fall you can do something crazy in terms of nutrition. For the time being, I’m not really on a diet either, because I know my body needs a lot of calcium right now. Calcium, milk, yogurt and cheese, for example. Ice creams too, actually. It is a staple food. The rehabilitation is basically eating ice cream,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old has resumed cautious training on rollers. The plan is still to head out on an altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada at the start of May, participate in the Critérium du Dauphiné from June 2 to 9, and then return to altitude in preparation for the Tour de France from June 29 to July 21.
