World Champion Remco Evenepoel has made his strongest suggestion yet that next year he will not take part in the Tour de France, but will instead return to the Giro d'Italia.
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl leader said he would prefer not to race his next Grand Tour with shared leadership duties.
Current Belgian national champion Tim Merlier is due to join Evenepoel's team next season, where he will be the second top sprinter for the squad alongside Fabio Jakobsen.
Discussing how they would divide up the Grand Tours and after revealing that he preferred to race without another leader, Evenepoel said, "You could say: me for the Giro, Jakobsen the Tour, Merlier the Vuelta."
If confirmed, Evenepoel's keenly anticipated debut in the Tour de France would not take place until at least 2024. He would not return to the Vuelta a España, either, to defend his overall title.
Evenepoel said that, while the Tour de France was a priority and that to win it "is the ultimate dream," he said that "it does not exclude an intermediate station in 2023. So far, the Giro d'Italia looks very nice."
The Belgian's first Grand Tour was the Giro d'Italia back in 2021, where he rode strongly in the first 10 days, but then abandoned after suffering and crashing in the Dolomites.
The rumours of three individual time trials in the Giro route, set to be unveiled next week, could well prove tempting for Evenepoel.
He also explained that with Fabio Jakobsen at the Tour and Tim Merlier at the Vuelta, leadership responsibilities were split between them, which he preferred.
"We can actually divide it neatly. I think that's better, otherwise you risk division. That also applies to a sprinter, who deserves a strong lead out: in other words, at least two riders. Then the combination becomes difficult, doesn't it?
"Fabio and I get along well and in a normal race I like to be part of his sprint train. But in a Grand Tour it is different."
At the end of a spectacularly successful 2022 season in which he has taken a Monument, the World Championships and a Grand Tour, Evenepoel revealed that he did have at least one regret – "not taking part in Milan-San Remo."
