“I expect Tadej Pogacar to be almost unattainable,” assures Remco Evenepoel before his first Grande Boucle

The 24-year-old Belgian, who will discover the Tour de France from Saturday, will be one of the outsiders behind the big favorite Tadej Pogacar.

After the Tour of Italy in 2021 and the Tour of Spain in 2022, Remco Evenepoel will finally discover the Tour de France, which starts on Saturday from Florence (Italy). At 24, the Belgian will approach this event in the shoes of the leader of his team Soudal-Quick-Step, who has renounced his principles as a stage-hunting team to surround him as best as possible for the general classification.

Three days before the start, he shared his impressions about this first big start in Italy, the fierce competition that awaits him and his form after contracting an illness last week.

Franceinfo: sport: How do you feel about starting your first Tour?

Remco Evenepoel: I feel relaxed. I can’t wait to discover everything, starting with the presentation of the teams on Thursday, which will be a magical moment in my life and my career. But also the start and the first stage, the first day of rest… It’s going to be exciting. I think I’m arriving in the best possible shape after the Dauphiné. I tried to push myself as much as possible every day, and in that regard, I can’t blame myself, tell myself that I didn’t work hard enough. I did the best I could.

You were sick last week, just before departure, how are you feeling?

I was unable to participate in the national championship (Sunday), which would have been my last big test for the Tour. I also couldn’t train intensely (with this illness), I couldn’t be 100%. We’ll see if this affects me for the Tour. The first week, I will be more careful than in the classics. You have to be smart, the Tour de France is not just one week. You have to save money whenever possible. Since it’s my first, I have to stay a little calmer, look around me at how the race is developing.

From Saturday, the first stage to Rimini is difficult, how do you see it?

It’s a very hard stage. There are 30 kilometers after the last difficulty, with a long descent. For me, the only possibility of winning is to go alone, and for a first day, that’s not really smart, especially with ambitions for the general. If you have to sprint in a small group, this is a more economical way. Otherwise, I won’t try. But II hope to be able to show myself from the first days. Not necessarily to fight to win a stage, but to not lose time, to be strong enough to follow the favorites.

You are part of the “Fantastic Four” with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, what do you expect?

I expect Tadej (Pogacar) to be almost unbeatable. What he showed at the Giro was very impressive. Especially since he didn’t have to work hard to get results, I don’t think it really tired him out. I think he will be the man to beat in this Tour de France. He has a team to win as many stages as possible in addition to the general classification, which has eluded them for two years. They want to show that they are the best team in the world, a bit like the “Real Madrid” of cycling… and not Manchester City (smile)!

With Jonas Vingegaard returning from injury, Tadej Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates will undoubtedly want to outrun him from the start, how do you plan to react?

If UAE Team Emirates goes for this tactic, we have to let them do it, focus on ourselves, stick with this pace for as long as possible and see what happens. But personally, I don’t think Jonas Vingegaard will break down from the first days, not at all. I think that UAE Team Emirates, and especially Pogacar, want to somehow “revenge” for what Jumbo-Visma did to them last year (the Dutch team had initially isolated the Slovenian, who was returning from an injury ). The situation is a little reversed: they will do the Jumbo tactic with Jonas in the role of Tadej. It will be a kind of “revenge” for them. It’s going to be interesting to watch.