Remco Evenepoel is enjoying his Tour de France debut, despite the expectations on his young shoulders and the fatigue of racing slowly accumulating in his legs.
Evenepoel's stage 7 time trial victory ahead of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was arguably the most prestigious time trial victory of his career, even more so than his 2023 world time trial title.
Everything at the Tour de France is a new experience and a new success for Evenepoel. He is keen to savour it all and seems to have fallen in love with the sport's biggest race.
"I'll never come back, I hate it," he joked when asked about his Tour debut.
"I'm kidding of course. I'm loving every minute of the Tour. I'm second overall after a week of racing. I'm enjoying it, I'm relaxed and winning a stage is pretty special. I'm pleased and honoured to be here and up there with the biggest and best. For sure I'll come back. I have no option…"
Evenepoel raced in the best young rider's white jersey but confirmed he is the world time trial champion with a superb performance despite a moment of fear when he thought he had punctured. He was fastest at all three time checks and beat Pogačar by 12 seconds, with Roglic at 34 seconds and Vingegaard at 37 seconds and closed the gap in the Tour de France GC standings.
"Today was a super high level, the gaps were small and so this is a great victory. All my family are here too, so it's even more special. I'll never forget this victory," he said, his voice wavering slightly in emotion.
"I expected Tadej to be close to me, he's one of the best chrono men in Grand Tour racing and a difficult guy to beat. I have to be happy and we have to keep building on this."
Evenepoel could build towards and target a place on the podium but he is keeping his ambitions in check, at least for now. He sees Pogačar as the winner of the Tour, who will go on to dominate in the mountain stages but refuses to accept defeat fully.
"Tadej is from a different class and I think he should win the Tour de France pretty easily. Tadej is virtually unbeatable. But you never know…."
After his huge effort in the time trial, Evenepoel can enjoy a quiet day in the peloton during the rolling eighth stage from Semur-en-Auxios to Colombey-les-deux-Eglises on Saturday as the sprinters are expected to control the attacks.
The next big day for Evenepoel and his GC rivals is on Sunday, with the gravel stage that starts and ends in Troyes. The 199km stage includes 47km and 14 sectors of gravel. The final six sectors are packed into the final 35km, making for a real test for the overall contenders.
Evenepoel has often criticised gravel stages in Grand Tours, but his love for the Tour de France means he is ready to race on Sunday.
"It's going to be a tough stage. I know the region from Paris-Nice, the roads are just up and down," he said.
"The gravel sectors are not that dangerous compared to, say, Strade Bianche or the 2021 Giro d'Italia. I've done a recon and some sectors are hard, with steep starts but this is a very beautiful gravel stage.
"It'll be important to be in a good position all day. It's a long stage and comes after nine days, so there will be fatigue in the legs.
"It's arguable not a stage that can win you the Tour but if you have bad luck in the wrong moment it could make you lose the Tour.
"If all goes normally, there won't be big gaps between the GC favourites or maybe not even any gaps. But we have to be prepared and ready for a big day of racing."
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