World Champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has confirmed that he will not line up at the Tour de France following his early exit from the Giro d'Italia, explaining that his state of form, Belgian pressure, and respect for his teammates all influenced his decision.
"There were talks," Evenepoel revealed during a weekend press conference ahead of the Tour de Suisse. "But it was pretty soon a 'no'."
Evenepoel abandoned the Giro after testing positive for COVID-19 in the wake of the stage 9 time trial victory that put him back into the overall lead of the race. Having faced criticism from former Italian pros for his withdrawal, he underlined the fact he was "very sick", but has since worked his way back into racing shape via a training camp in the Ardennes.
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He has chosen to ride the Tour de Suisse, which begins on Sunday, ahead of the Belgian national championships towards the end of the month, but any excitement he could take the rainbow jersey into a Tour de France debut has been quashed.
"Not this year, that's my answer," Evenepoel said when asked about the Tour.
"You have to understand, I did six months of preparation for the Giro, and three months on a naked mountain [Teide in Tenerife], so I was in peak shape at the Giro. Then with my illness I was 10 days off the bike, and it's not easy to get back into top shape for a race like the Tour de France.
"If I start the Tour de France it's all-in, I want to be at 150%. For sure now that wasn't going to be possible, so it was just a logical decision not to take the start of the Tour."
Evenepoel was asked about the idea of going to the Tour to hunt stage wins and gain experience, but he argued that was effectively impossible due to external forces.
"It is an option, but you guys would be sad about that. If I drop on the first mountain stage, it would be like a big bomb explosion in Belgium. With the goals and the way of racing I have, it's almost impossible to go to the Tour de France without expectations."
Lastly, Evenepoel reasoned it would not be fair on his teammates who have been preparing for the Tour, to swoop in and change the team's shape and strategy in the blink of an eye.
"They guys preparing for the Tour having been preparing it from April after the Classics. It's very difficult to just turn everything around and fuck up their preparation. Also it's something that's not honest to do."
Evenepoel was definitive, but assured that his time at the Tour will come: "For sure in the future I will be there, just be patient a bit more and no worries."
Tour de Suisse comeback
As for the race that is in fact on his programme, Evenepoel explained that his form might not be where it needs to be to challenge for the Tour de France, but it's still good enough to be competitive in a prestigious week-long race like the Tour de Suisse.
"I would not have taken to the start if I was not in good shape," Evenepoel insisted. "The main goal should be to get a stage win and have a good GC."
Evenepoel took 10 days off the bike following his exit from the Giro, explaining that he grew sicker through the week that followed that Sunday time trial he won. The following Tuesday he underwent scans that gave him the all-clear to begin training again, with a few riders to blow out the cobwebs again before a successful 10-day training camp in the Ardennes that he has just completed.
"Two weeks after my exit from he Giro, I started to feel normal on the bike. I went to the Ardennes to have a good block of training and we decided during that block that I was going to do Suisse, because my values were OK, and good enough to race a WorldTour race."
The Tour de Suisse took precedence over the Baloise Belgium Tour, a decision that was questioned by Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere, partly due to the superior appearance fee on offer in Belgium. The Tour de Suisse, Evenepoel countered, offered a more attractive course with its two time trials and three mountain stages, not to mention stronger competition, greater prestige, and the fact that he already has the Belgium Tour on his palmarès.
"It wasn't easy to choose but for my development as a rider and for all my Grand Tour GC hopes and dreams, Suisse is good race to help develop myself, with altitude, long climbs, two nice time trials, long stages.
"Last year it did me very well towards nationals so we actually decided to go for a copy-paste. Last week with my six and seven-hour training rides and some interval training, we could see the shape was back again, then it was clear we were going for the Tour de Suisse."
