Remco Evenepoel will target the Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday, hoping to repeat his victory of 2019 as he continues his career progression at the Vuelta a España and on a longer road to discover if he can become a Grand Tour contender in the years to come.
The 22-year-old QuickStep-AlphaVinyl rider stormed to victory in the 2019 Clásica with a solo attack that immediately confirmed his prodigious talents as a Junior. His crash at the 2020 Il Lombardia massively disrupted his career but his victory at this year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège confirmed he was back to his best.
After a month of hard training, Saturday’s Clásica San Sebastián will be an indication if Evenepoel is on track for the Vuelta a España, his major goal for 2022, that starts in three weeks. On Friday, he took the Strava record for the final short Murgil climb that could decide the Clásica in an apparent test of his form and race strategy.
“I’m here to do a good result, to try to get a second win,” Evenepoel said in a zoom press conference on Friday afternoon.
“I’ve only got good memories of San Sebastián. If you win a race unexpectedly, then you only have good memories.”
A lot has happened since Evenepoel’s 2019 win and his Il Lombardia crash injuries. He has become one of the biggest names in the sport, especially in Belgium and already has 32 victories on his palmares.
Three years on from his professional debut, Evenepoel appears older, wiser, happier and a better rider, even if doubts remain about his long-term Grand tour talents.
“Now I think I’m a more complete athlete,” he suggested. “Back then I was 19 and my body was still developing. Now I’m also smarter in races and can read races better. I’m also more explosive and more experienced in races. I’m a more complete human. All that can help to have a good results too.”
Evenepoel will face Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and a number of Tour de France riders at the Clásica San Sebastián, although Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) are absent. True to character, Evenepoel hoped that Pogačar would be on form and keen to race, naming the Slovenian as his favourite and biggest rival for victory.
“He’s won two monument Classics, Strade Bianche and all the big races. I hope he’s recovered after the Tour and can do a good race,” Evenepoel said.
“The week after the Tour can give a super compensation if you have a week relaxing without stress and training, he can be very strong.”
Preparing for the Vuelta a Espana and future Grand Tours
Evenepoel has not raced since the Belgian national championships in late June where he won the time trial title. He has spent three weeks at altitude in Livigno, working on his endurance and climbing by riding the Passo dello Stelvio five times and the Mortirolo and other mountain passes during blocks of hard training.
He revealed he is close to two kilogrammes lighter than in the spring when he won Liege-Bastogne-Liege but believes he is equally powerful and climbing better after spending July preparing for the Vuelta a Espana.
After struggling at the 2021 Giro d’Italia and the more recent Tour de Suisse, Evenepoel is understandably cautious about his Vuelta A Espana ambitions but they are there.
“I’ve been training to do something good. A specific GC result is difficult to predict but if I can leave the Vuelta with a stage win or two, then it’d be a good Vuelta,” he suggested.
“Everything in the GC that comes would be extra. I start by focusing on stage wins, especially the opening TTT with the team and the stage 10 TT. But I also know things can go wrong every day.”
While spending much of July at altitude, Evenepoel had time to watch the Tour de France and how Jumbo-Visma managed to defeat Pogačar. Evenepoel watched the race with admiration and ambition.
“It was a fast, hard and difficult Tour. Jumbo made it look easy but I think it was hard for everybody,” Evenepoel said in his personal analysis of the Tour.
“Jumbo didn’t surprise me but what they did with the full team was quite impressive and beautiful to watch. They had a plan before the Tour and they showed it to the world. Chapeau to them. It was beautiful to watch.”
Evenepoel and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, who will be known as Soudal-QuickStep next season, have still to confirm if he will ride the Tour de France in 2023. A decision perhaps depends on the outcome of the Vuelta a Espana but Evenepoel seems keen to test himself in the Grand Tours
“That’d be a dream…” Evenepoel said when asked if he'd like one day to fight against Pogačar, Jumbo-Visma and Egan Bernal.
“It’s a specific road to get to that level and especially that level of climbing. I know my time trialling is at the highest level but on the climbs I often have some questions of myself about trying to follow the best guys,” he admitted.
“To work towards my big dream, to stand on a Grand Tour podium, you need to push your limits and that’s why we’re going to the Vuelta with this preparation, this approach and the team we’ll have.
“It’s an adventure, let’s say it’s like a highway which you don’t know will end. I’m really curious to see where it leads and really looking forward to starting the vuelta. Let’s see and hope for the best.”
