'It just wasn’t working, I was empty' - Remco Evenepoel reveals his struggle since the Dauphiné and the cause of his Tour de France abandon

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) opened up on his departure from the Tour de France, which shocked the Tour de France on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet on Saturday.

“It just wasn’t working, I was empty," Evenepoel told Dutch and Flemish journalists, including Nieuwsblad.

"Having a bad day once in a while is fine, but three in a row isn't something I'm used to," he added. Evenepoel explained that in conversation with sport director Klaas Lodewyck in the team car, Lodewyck encouraged him to leave the race. "He said that was for the best, especially with what's still to come."

He continued, "Up until today, everything actually looked okay. I won the time trial and was in third place. But today it really didn't work out.

"I could have just finished with the grupetto, but who knows, maybe I'll just absorb the fatigue a bit more. And then I won't be there in September either."

His decision to leave seemed to be well supported across Soudal-Quickstep management, as sports director Tom Steels confirmed after the race. "It was clear on the road that he didn't feel the best, you hope things turn on the road, and it didn't turn.

"He's world champion on the road and time trial and those have to be his next goals he has to aim for," Steels said - confirming that the team had already set their sights on longer-term ambitions.

"You just have to call it in time because you feel something is wrong, already the third day in a row that he doesn't feel right," Steels added. "But you have to be careful not to go over the limit because otherwise you lose months, not days."

Evenepoel suggested that despite his time trial form, he entered the Tour in poor training condition. "After the Dauphiné, I haven't been able to do a single training session either," the Olympic champion said. "I couldn't handle any intensity. Fatigue, my body simply not being good enough this year... It could be anything, I just can't pinpoint one thing."

While the departure is devastating for Soudal-Quickstep's GC ambitions, they still have one of the fastest sprinters in the race, and so all focus will likely land on pursuing further sprint victories for Tim Merlier.

"I guess we move on," teammate Ilan Van Wilder said after the race finish. "We try to change our strategy in this Tour to make the last week still enjoyable, and hopefully we can take one more stage with our sprinter Tim. That would be also nice. At least we will try. But this moment is not nice for sure.

As for Evenepoel, his next race is expected to be the Clásica San Sebastián, but the World Championships and retaining his individual time trial title seem to be the key goals for the Belgian.

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