Two weeks after a high-speed crash in the Basque Country that left Remco Evenepoel with a fractured broken collarbone and shoulder blade, the Belgian rider is reportedly recovering well and will apparently head to an altitude training camp in May, with the Tour de France still a major goal for the summer.
Evenepoel won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2022 and 2023 but has been unable to ride any of the Ardennes Classics this week and so will not clash with Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock on Sunday.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the Belgian has been limited to riding on the home trainer but is expected to begin more serious training in two weeks time, prior to heading to altitude and to then the Dauphiné Libére and then onto the Tour de France.
In Evenepoel's absence Soudal Quick-Step have selected a young team for Liège-Bastogne-Liège that includes Mauri Vansevenant, James Knox, Fausto Masnada, Pieter Serry, Louis Vervaeke and neo-pros Gil Gelders and William Junior Lecerf, the latter a stage winner at the Tour du Rwanda and runner-up at the AlUla Tour this year.
During his recovery time, Evenepoel has been doing ambassador work for an NGO, Tous á Bord, an association that works for the inclusion of disabled people in sport.
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The association is currently putting together a major 400 kilometre running project, from Brussels to Paris for both non-disabled people and those with a series of health conditions or impairments.
Although Evenepoel will not be able to take part in the event in late May because it is too close to the Tour de France, he emphasised at a presentation of the Brusseles-Paris project that “More than the sporting challenge, it is the spirit [of it] that matters to me." He also promised that if another similar event was held in October, he’d take part.
As for his own health following the Itzulia crash, Evenepoel said he was “already doing a little better,” and although subject to confirmation from the team, he is expected to step up his preparation for his debut in the Tour de France very shortly.
After the training camp in Sierra Nevada, in early June Evenepoel is expected to race the Criterium du Dauphiné, Het Laatste Nieuws reported, although the Tour de Suisse, which starts a week later is always a possible Plan ‘B’.
Evenepoel’s final race prior to the Tour de France will be the Belgian National Championships on June 23, where he will defend the road race title he took last summer. He is not expected to ride the Belgian time trial championships due to is focus on peaking for the Tour de France.
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