Remco Evenepoel has said he is aiming for a "good Tour" and some "nice results" at the Tour de France, as Soudal Quick-Step announced their team for the race on Tuesday.
Notably, though, the Belgian and his team stopped short of saying they were aiming for the win. This might be partly explained by the fact that the 24-year-old is riding his debut Tour, and because he is on his way back from injuries suffered in the mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April.
Riding alongside Evenepoel will be Mikel Landa, Jan Hirt, Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke and Yves Lampaert.
“Riding the Tour de France is the dream of every kid who falls in love with cycling," Evenepoel said. "It’s something I too have dreamed about since the moment I rode my bike and I’m incredibly excited to be at the start for the first time in my career with this great team.
"We have a strong squad and we are ready to give our best. Of course, I would like to have a good Tour and get some nice results, but let’s not forget it’s my debut in this hard and beautiful event which is unlike any other, so the plan is to discover the race, take it one day at a time and see where this leads us."
Evenepoel, the reigning time trial world champion, will look to the individual time trials on stages 7 and 21 as places to gain time on his rivals, but will also hope to be back at his best in the mountains.
He won the Vuelta a España in 2022, and the World Championships road race that autumn as well. This season, he won the Volta ao Algarve before finishing second at Paris-Nice.
"With both Remco and Mikel on the team we can aim for a good result in the general classification," Tom Steels, the team's directeur sportif, said. "Mikel has a lot of experience, as do many of our riders, and together they make for quite a strong and balanced team. Looking on the parcours, I think you can easily say this will be one of the toughest editions in recent years.
"The start is very hard, we have some big climbs early in the race followed by that gravel stage, and then the second and third week will be very demanding. We need to be focused and at the top of our game to get some good results, and we are confident in this team and what it can do this July."
