Vuelta a España: Remco Evenepoel relishes showdown with Jonas Vingegaard

Reigning champion will look to learn from Vingegaard and feels better for riding a recon of the Angliru

18:28, Thursday 24th August 2023

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Remco Evenepoel won last year's Vuelta a España at a canter

Remco Evenepoel is in jovial spirits ahead of the Vuelta a España, with the Soudal Quick-Step leader emphasising his excitement - rather than trepidation - at taking on two-time Tour de France Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) in Spain. Evenepoel believes that racing against the Dane can be a learning opportunity, not just for the coming three weeks, but also for next year’s Tour de France.

“You can steal with your eyes,” admitted Evenepoel when questioned by GCN about the match-up. “[Jonas] knows how to win the Tour de France so he probably also knows how to win this Vuelta, so [I will be] trying to copy as much as possible and take it in my backpack to next year’s Tour de France and during the next three weeks.”

“It is something exciting actually, I raced him a few times - not too many times - so I think it is only a good thing for the bunch, for cycling, for the Vuelta, for himself and for everybody. It’s always a big challenge when you see a name like that at the start line, but I am happy that he is here.”

Of course, the 2024 Tour de France will be one of the last things on Evenepoel’s mind as he goes in search of defending his Vuelta a España title. This year’s Vuelta presents a different challenge than last for Soudal Quick-Step, both in terms of its startlist - with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Vingegaard looking to win their first Spanish Grand Tour - and also in regard to the route.

“The first week is already hard, but it is not going to be decisive,” concluded Evenepoel.

“I expect the second and the third weeks to have the most decisive stages, so it is completely the opposite [to last year].”

“Then on the other hand, there’s teams where you only see big names and you know they can take all the pressure and the workload on their shoulders. That is something for us that means we can ride a bit more defensively.”

Evenepoel and his Soudal Quick-Step team would be wise to save their energy reserves for the final two weeks of racing, as challenging summit finishes await that would bring a grimace to any rider’s face. The Col du Tourmalet will rear its head for the third time in as many months on stage 13, before the race organisers offer up a challenging double-act of the Altu de l’Angliru and La Cruz de Linares on stages 17 and 18, respectively.

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The Angliru is a climb that may well offer the likes of Thomas, Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) hope, given Roglič’s bad memories from the climb in 2020.

Heading into the stage as the likely favourite on such a steep finish, the Slovenian instead scrambled to save his losses as Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) catapulted himself up the road.

Sepp Kuss helped to limit Primož Roglič's losses to 26 seconds on the Angliru in 2020

In the face of the British rider’s long-limbed attack, Roglič cut a desperate figure as the ever-reliable Sepp Kuss looked to shepherd his shaken leader to the line. When asked by GCN if he had visited the fearsome mountain ahead of the Vuelta, Evenepoel revealed that the Angliru had played a key part in his race preparations.

“I have been to the Angliru to do a recon of that stage, I did the climb at about race pace so I know what is to come. Last year in the Vuelta we didn’t do any recons, and I had some disadvantages from that. Now we are seeing the most important stages and I think it can only be an advantage, in terms of knowing what is coming.”

“I think it has been good that I have seen those stages and that I have been training on longer and steeper climbs in my preparation.”

But the Belgian is in no rush to make any foolhardy statements of bravado on the eve of the race, maintaining that to finish on the podium in Madrid remains the key ambition, despite having made the top step his own last year.

“In my opinion, it is very difficult to say I will win this Grand Tour because a bad day is very easy to get,” insisted a level-headed Evenepoel.

“Becoming ill or sick is also pretty easy and quick, having a crash can happen in every second of every stage, so that’s the reason why I say I want to go for the podium and stage wins.”

“Imagine if I have three or four stage wins, but I am 12th or 10th in GC - then it’s still a very good Vuelta.”

We’ll be showing live and on-demand coverage of all 21 stages of this year’s Vuelta a España from Saturday, August 26 to Sunday, September 17, plus daily expert analysis on The Breakaway. Head over to GCN+ now to check the start times of each broadcast so that you don’t miss out on a moment of the action! As always, territory restrictions will apply.

If you head to our Vuelta a España landing page, you will find everything you need to know ahead of the race, including our race preview, the route, start list and individual stage previews. Check it out for all that and more.