Remco Evenepoel Speaks About His Return and the Tour

Rider Interview: Soudal-Quick-Step presented their team and plans for the 2025 season to the press on Thursday afternoon in Calpe, Spain. There was one very important rider missing: Remco Evenepoel. He had to miss the presentation because of a medical scan. The double Olympic champion hit a van door, while training in Belgium in early December and was seriously injured. He had fractured ribs, right shoulder blade and right hand. He also had two bruised lungs and a dislocated collarbone. The rehabilitation will take months. Evenepoel and his wife were recently in the south of Spain for some relaxation and study time for Oumi. After their break, Evenepoel returned to Belgium for a scan in Herentals, which was on Thursday, the same day as the Soudal-Quick-Step team presentation. Evenepoel received good news and had his first physiotherapy session on Thursday afternoon. The Belgian spoke via a live link to the journalists at the team media day.

The Evenepoel crash in December

What was the result of Remco’s scan?
“I had my scan on Thursday morning. With positive news, because the result was good. After that, I was able to start my first session with the physiotherapist in Herentals right away. So my rehabilitation can finally start now. We are taking it day by day. We want to be sure that everything is 100% recovered. I have to strengthen my muscles. A nerve on the outside of my shoulder has been hit. As a result, the outside feels a bit dead. The pain is bearable, except when getting up. Then it feels like twenty trucks have run over it. There is also no muscle reaction yet. We have to keep an eye on that. But the most important thing is that I can start now.”

The gold bike

You hope to return in the Ardennes classics, those are very hard races.
“Yes, the Ardennes classics are difficult to make a return. But I know those races well, so that is a plus and positive. Moreover, I am going to start a little earlier, in the Brabantse Pijl. That makes it a little easier. Also for the motivation, because that is a race close to home. After that, the Amstel Gold Race, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège follow. Those are specific races to restart, but it is feasible. A one-day race is easier than Paris-Nice or a Giro d’Italia. That is why the Giro is completely off the table. I know that I now have three months. That is enough space to be good in the Brabantse Pijl. Liège is also only two weeks later. It is a risk, but we are confident.”

Leaving hospital

Is it hard not to be in Spain and with the team at the presentation?
“That was and is very difficult to accept. I am literally lying in bed, my condition (race form) is deteriorating by the day, while everyone else is now improving their form. The gap is growing by the day. I have not done any sports exercises for five weeks now. Not on the bike, not in the gym. And I took a holiday before that. That means that I have not done anything for about ten weeks now. It is difficult to live with that. I have experienced it before. These are low points in my career. The contrast with my successful summer is great. Although I know what needs to happen. I am also more positive by the day. Around New Year I also sought out the sun for a while, knowing that it might be the last relaxation for the coming months. But that did me good.”

Missing the training camps

You missed the first two training camps. What about the third?
“That is in two weeks and I will not make that either. From now on I can go to the gym every day and train on the rollers. My shoulder is not yet ready to absorb the shocks of the road. That is why there is no point in going to the next camp. Whether I am on rollers there or here: it does not matter. The doctors hope that I will be able to train outside for the first time on February 3 or 4.”

Last year at the team presentation – Evenepoel with Jurgen Fore, the new team manager

Could this injury also affect the level you can reach in the Tour?
“Let me put it this way: if there is one thing I can be happy about, it is that this injury occurred in December. We also had to make a decision now and that is why I am not riding any spring races. I want to be 200% ready for the Tour de France. Maybe we will add the Tour de Romandie after the four hilly Classics, to have a few more racing days in my legs. After that we want to copy last year’s preparation. I have no doubt that if I follow that path, I will be in very good shape for the Tour. There are still seven months until then. There is time. That is why the Tour is now the main goal. If things don’t go well in the Ardennes Classics, it’s part of the process towards the Tour de France. That’s how I’m looking at it in the coming period.”

The big attack in Liège 2023

Tim Merlier is also going to the Tour, will that clash with your ambitions?
“No. Tim and I went to the United States together for wind tunnel tests last autumn. We talked about it a lot there. Tim is the fastest in the peloton. If you know that the first day is a bunch sprint, he is the European champion and can take yellow in Lille, near his hometown: then you take Merlier along to the Tour. He and Bert Van Lerberghe know that they have to protect me during the day. But after that they can do their thing in the sprints. In the mountain stages it will be the same: they have to drop me off at the foot of a climb and then they have to come in on time. We are mainly looking at UAE Emirates and Visma | Lease a Bike. They will want to control again. We don’t have seven riders for that and that is why we are focusing on two goals: Tim’s sprints and my classification.”

No clash between Evenepoel and Tim Merlier

Are you mentally ready for fight back?
“Definitely. My days will be busy. Two-hour sessions with the physio in the morning, half an hour to two hours on the rollers in the afternoon. That’s nice. Mentally, I’m also ready. I don’t care how long I have to be on the rollers. I’m happy that I can do this again. But I’m not going all in right away. Then I won’t recover properly. My shoulder is the most important. That nerve needs to improve. If that goes well, I can scale up. I’m looking forward to that, because I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Looking forward to the Tour

Would you be happy with third overall and a white jersey in Paris?
“I do want to get closer to the final victory. If that detail is in your contract with the same results, then I’ll sign blindly. I want to be closer. That’s a step in the right direction. I want to improve everything. If you want to win the Tour, every aspect counts. I was third, so I still have to catch up two. I have to develop myself. Not only as a rider, but also as a person. Hopefully I will be ready to win the Tour one day. I was pretty close last year. I got a taste of it. We also know what we have to improve. That is why I am trying to come out of this period stronger. I have to be patient and wait for the right moment. I am only focusing on the Tour. Everything else is unfortunately secondary. That is not in my nature, but that is how it is.”

3rd overall and ‘Best Young Rider’ in the Tour

Remco Evenepoel’s provisional 2025 race program:
18.04: De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne
20.04: Amstel Gold Race
23.04: La Flèche Wallonne
27.04: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
08.06: Critérium du Dauphiné
05.07: Tour de France
21.09: UCI World Championship Kigali TT
28.09: UCI World Championship Kigali RR.

Like PEZ? Why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates and reminders on what’s cool in road cycling?