Remco Evenepoel continues his path to recovering his condition in view of the 2024 Tour de France. After the difficulties in the sixth stage of the Tour of the Dauphiné 2024in which he lost 42″ and the leader’s jersey to the advantage of Primož Roglič (Bora – hansgrohe), the Soudal-QuickStep rider says he is calm and confident in his progress, despite the recent fall, which once again put a spanner in his works. These are the words of the world time trial champion before the seventh stage of the French race, the very tough stage that will take the riders to Samoëns 1600.
“The goal today is always the same, try to follow for as long as possible and then see what happens. I have no pressure – the Belgian’s comment – Yesterday was a difficult day, today will be even harder. I woke up early this morning so I’m a little tired, but it’s been like that for everyone so that’s no excuse. The roads are wet again, it will be a complicated and nervous stage. Today’s route is very tough, I think it will be a good dress rehearsal in view of the final stages of the Tour which seem quite similar to today’s. I’ll try to see how much I can push and then we’ll look at the numbers at the end of the stage.”
For the Belgian champion, who this year will tackle the Tour de France for the first time in his career, the condition is not yet as hoped for, especially when compared to that of his main opponents for the Yellow Jersey, but this does not seem to scare him: “ We have seen that Primož is already in excellent shape, it’s no secret. For me it’s just a matter of measuring myself every day – argues Evenepoel – The numbers I did yesterday were quite good, but they’re not at the level I need to win. Yesterday I had 4-5 minutes of darkness and then I picked up the pace again, it’s all part of the route. I’m not worried, the important thing is to fight every day“.
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