Remco Evenepoel appeared sceptical when he learned last October that the Tour de France would feature a gravel stage in the heart of the Champagne region this year.
A hesitant display on the gravel roads of the Giro d’Italia on stage 11 in 2021 was perhaps in the back of the Belgian’s mind when the Tour route was announced in Paris last Autumn. But Evenepoel is not the kind of rider to allow past fear to affect his willingness to race.
