Remco Evenepoel, who considers himself “stronger than in the last Vuelta” which he won, is betting on the three individual time trials to make the difference against his rival Primoz Roglic during the Tour of Italy which starts Saturday. “Last year, I still had some doubts about my ability to be at the same level as him in the mountains. But these doubts disappeared during the last Tour of Catalonia where we were on an equal footing in the climbs, ”commented the Belgian on Thursday.
“I hope to do the same here and be better than him in the time trials. This is the recipe for beating him, even if he is Olympic champion (in title) (…) so it will not be easy, ”added the 23-year-old world champion. Winner of the UAE Tour and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season, Evenepoel finished second in the Tour of Catalonia just six seconds behind Slovenian Primoz Roglic.
The Tour of Italy begins on Saturday with a 19.6 km time trial on the Adriatic coast, between Fossacesia Marina and Ortona, which the Belgian clearly has in his sights. “If I can take the pink jersey, why not? I want to win stages too”, he said, although he believes that the Italian Filippo Ganna and the Swiss Stefan Küng will be the favorites on Saturday.
Two other times are on the program, for an unusually high total of 70.6 km, including that of the penultimate stage which ends with a terrible climb towards Monte Lussari: 7.3 km at 12.1% average with a peak at 22%. “Nobody knows what to expect on this last lap except that it will be very hard and very steep”, underlined the Fleming who expects a “brutal third week” with also several arrivals at the top.
“Everything will be decided in the last week. I will give everything in the time trials and, for the rest, try to stay in good health and keep as much energy as possible for the end,” said Evenepoel, who had retired at the start of the 18th stage during of his first participation in 2021. “My level today compared to the one I had in 2021 is incomparable. I became another runner. At the time, I had five weeks of preparation in my legs, now I’ve been training for this goal for five months. And I feel better than before the Vuelta. Only good news”, insisted the Belgian who arrives “with a lot of confidence” on the Giro.
