Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) made it away from the snow of Mount Teide and was in Catalonia ahead of his return to the Volta a Catalunya on Monday.
The Belgian hasn't taken part in the WorldTour stage race since 2023, where he won two stages and finished runner-up to Primož Roglič. He now has a chance to replicate that strong showing – against the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – after escaping the bad weather in Tenerife.
Evenepoel and his wife Oumi were among those stuck on Teide on Friday, sparking fears he might not make it to the airport in time to race Catalunya. However, he received a police escort on Saturday off the mountain, ensuring he could get to Catalonia in good time.
Evenepoel, who this season has seven wins across the Mallorca Challenge, Volta Comunitat Valenciana and UAE Tour, has spent the best part of a month working on Teide in preparation for Catalunya and the Ardennes Classics. He told Het Laatste Nieuws that everything has gone to plan – barring that brief trouble with the snow.
"I've had a good three weeks and managed to do everything on schedule. I've been fully focussed for three weeks," he said.
"The UAE Tour wasn't my best week. The training camp gave me a chance to reset and put in a good month's work. Now we're going to make the most of it."
He won a time trial stage in the UAE but struggled in the two mountain stages, eventually finishing the race in 10th place, 2:25 down on winner Isaac del Toro. In Catalunya, his goal is to add more stage wins to his season tally while challenging Vingegaard for overall glory.
"I hope to win a stage and make the most of it. I've watched the races over the past few weeks, and Jonas looks very strong. He'll be in good form as he's building up to the Giro. He'll be a strong contender here, too," he said.
"The aim is to stay as close to him as possible in the general classification and win as many stages as possible.
"The GC is always the hardest, especially in a race like this. First, you have to focus on the stages. If you win a lot of them, you'll naturally end up high in the GC too."
Evenepoel also responded to recent criticism from former team manager Johan Bruyneel, who said on a podcast that it's time for the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe racer to win a WorldTour stage race again.
He has plenty of major triumphs among his 73 wins, though he hasn't won a WorldTour stage race since the 2023 UAE Tour. Previous wins include the 2020 Tour de Pologne and, of course, the 2022 Vuelta a España.
"It's my ambition to win such races. I've come close a few times, but it hasn't worked out yet. The only two stage races [I've won] are the UAE and the Tour de Pologne, but of course, those aren't races like Paris-Nice or the Volta a Catalunya.
"I'm self-critical enough to know that it's time to win one again."
