'Coming back at y'all'- Remco Evenepoel back in the saddle 16 days after Tour de France abandon

Remco Evenepoel has completed what appears to be his first training ride, 16 days after abandoning the Tour de France with fatigue.

The Belgian recalled the first anniversary of becoming double Olympic champion in Paris in 2024 on Instagram on Sunday and then posted information on a 105km ride on his Strava account on Monday.

The three-hour ride started from near his Belgian home in Schepdaal, west of Brussels and headed north towards Dendermonde and then south to Ninove.

As is often the case, Evenepoel named his ride with a phrase from French rapper Werenoi (Jérémy Bana Owana) who died in May.

"If only you knew how much time we've already lost. In the urge to make up for that time, many things have bothered us."

He added a subtitle of 'Coming back at y'all', with the Flemish media quickly speculating it was the start of Evenepoel's training for the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda at the end of September.

Evenepoel has kept a low profile as he recovered from the fatigue of the Tour, revealing he also suffered with a sinus infection.

He has long played down reports of a transfer from Soudal-QuickStep to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe but the controversial change of teams a year before the end of his contract is reportedly imminent.

Soudal-QuickStep announced the signing of Jasper Stuyven last week and Edward Planckaert today, as they boost their Classics roster, with no major signs to strengthen their Grand Tour squad around Evenepoel.

Any transfer would have to be agreed by Evenepoel, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal-QuickStep, with UCI approval also part of the process. However the deal appears to be in place, with reports that Evenepoel will pay around Є5 million to exit his current contract a year early and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will pay a Є2 million fee to make the deal happen.

Evenepoel won the stage 5 time trial around Caen and was third overall in the general classification for the first half of the Tour. However, he suffered in the Peyragudes mountain time trial and then climbed off during stage 14 to Superbagnères, struggling with fatigue.

Evenepoel explained how he rushed to prepare for the Tour after fracturing his shoulder in early December as he started winter training. He made his season debut at De Brabantse Pijl on April 18 but then struggled at the Critérium du Dauphiné and eventually on the roads of the Tour.

"The Tour de France was my main goal. After my crash in December, I did everything with one clear objective: to be ready in time for July. The goal gave me focus, but it also created a lot of time pressure," Evenepoel wrote after leaving the Tour.

"That day became one of the rawest and most vulnerable moments of my career. I broke and strangely enough, I’m proud of it. It takes strength to show that things don’t always go your way. That even when you want something deeply, sometimes your body has other plans.

“Leaving the Tour was the hardest decision I’ve made in a long time. But it was the right one. For once, I truly listened to my body. and I hope that moment sends a message, especially to other young riders watching: it’s okay to stop. It’s okay to feel tired. It’s okay to be human."

Evenepoel is not expected to ride the Vuelta a España but if he can return to form he is likely to lead the Belgian team at the hilly World Championships in Rwanda.