Remco Evenepoel celebrated his Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory with an extra large portion of fries but quickly turned his attention to the Giro d’Italia by heading to the Hotel Syncrosfera in Spain, for a final spell of training and simulated altitude.
The Hotel Syncrosfera in Denia has become popular in recent years due to its custom hypoxic hotel rooms which can recreate the atmospheric conditions of staying at altitude. It allows athletes to train intensely at low altitude but helps them boost their oxygen carrying capacity by sleeping high in the hypoxic rooms. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) have also used Hotel Syncrosfera in the past.
Evenepoel spent three weeks training at altitude on Mount Teide before travelling to Belgium for Liège-Bastogne-Liège last Friday. The Soudal-QuickStep leader is expected to stay at Hotel Syncrosfera until May 3 and then travel directly to Pescara on the Italian Adriatic coast for the Grande Partenza.
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The Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday May 6 with a 19.6km individual time trial, with Evenepoel predicted to immediately gain some time on his overall rivals.
Evenepoel suggested the final training camp in Spain would help him get a few percent better. His coach Koen Pelgrim explained that most of the training for the Giro d’Italia was done on Mount Teide, while a week at the Hotel Syncrosfera would help Evenepoel peak in the third week and give a chance to do some final specific training.
"The main work has to be done by now, putting things right now would be difficult. But we really want to maintain this form and improve it a bit,” Pelgrim told the Flemish media.
"If I look at his values, I would say that he is now around 100 percent of his ability. You can still improve somewhere but he is now close to the best ever version of Remco."
“Now we want to keep his base as wide as possible, by putting some altitude training as close as possible to the Giro. We’ll also do some specific training with his time trial bike.”
“Once you get off the mountain, the altitude effect starts to fade gradually. Thus, the longer you can keep this stimulus, the better. You can then take advantage of it and carry it deep into the Giro. It will be important to be as good as possible in the third week which may be decisive."
Evenepoel has an apartment in Spain but an extra pre-Giro d’Italia training camp will mean he has spent just a few days at home in Belgium in recent months. It is a sacrifice he seems ready to make.
“From the beginning of January until the end of the Giro d'Italia at the end of May, I have been home for no more than seven or eight days,” he said after winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
“To be home for less than two weeks in six months is quite hard. But it's all worth it when you win a big race. If I leave for the Giro d'Italia with a lot of confidence and motivation, all the sacrifices will have paid off.”
