Remco Evenepoel’s secret mission to recon Tour de France gravel stages and time trial

Belgian rider goes dark on Strava for three days but the Belgian media are on the case as they watch the rider's every move ahead of his Tour de France debut

09:00, Saturday 6th January 2024

Daniel Benson

Editor in Chief

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Whether it be at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in 2022 or the Giro d'Italia a year prior, Remco Evenepoel has previously struggled on gravel stages

It’s fair to say that Remco Evenepoel's every move is watched with a hawk-like gaze by the Belgian media, so when his Strava profile went dark for three days at the end of December the domestic press were on the story in a flash.

It turns out that the Belgian Tour de France contender wasn’t putting his feet up at home ahead of what will be a major year, and that he was instead riding recon over three of the most important stages of this year’s race.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws and Cyclingnews, the versatile Soudal Quick-Step rider headed to France with a crack team that included teammate Louis Vervaeke, sports director Klaas Lodewyck, mechanic Nicolas Coosemans and Soigneur David Geeroms.

According to the Belgian publication, Evenepoel rode the critical 25km stage 7 time trial from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin, the transitional stage 8 from Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-Les-Deux-Eglises and stage 9, which starts and finishes in Troyes. This all-important final stage contains 14 gravel sections and a post was shared online of Evenepoel riding on gravel-specific tires.

The stage 7 time trial is the first of two tests against the clock in this year’s Tour de France with the final 34km stage between Monaco and Nice also set to be a time trial. Both stages should see Evenepoel put the pure climbers to the sword but he will need to fight for every second when going up against the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tadej Pogačar UAE Team Emirates).

While it’s a known fact that Evenepoel will race the Tour de France this July, his Soudal Quick-Step team has yet to officially comment on the not-so-secret reconnaissance, as they wait for the team presentation which takes place next week in Calpe, Spain. At that point, Evenepoel and his team boss Patrick Lefevere will unveil the rider’s complete race programme.

Evenepoel is likely to start his campaign at the Volta ao Algarve, where he will have an early chance to test himself in a time trial. Paris-Nice, a defence of Liége-Bastogne-Liége and the Critérium du Dauphiné are also on his pencilled-in programme before he embarks on his debut at the Tour de France.

The former road world champion has been somewhat modest about his chances at the Tour. Last month he told Het Nieuwsblad that his primary ambition was to finish inside the top five overall in Nice, where the race finishes this year.

Defending champion Vinegaard and Pogačar will start as the main favourites but Roglič also has designs on targeting the yellow jersey. Ineos Grenadiers pair, Carlos Rodríguez and Tom Pidcock will lead the line for the British team, although it's not known as to whether they will be joined by Geraint Thomas.

“The goal is to be in the top five. Pogačar, Vingegaard and Roglič are participating, the three gods of the Grand Tours. I would love to leave one of them behind. That would be a dream,” Evenepoel said last month.

Next week’s venture to Calpe offers Evenepoel the chance to train with the bulk of his teammates and sit down with the team management to fine-tune his plans for the months ahead.

“I feel like I can train better there. I can better stay in my zone. Focus on the big goals. The weather is of course a little more stable than in Belgium, which is a bonus. I can maintain my climbing better there. And I can train better there than in Belgium with the time trial bike. All of this is not unimportant in view of a first Tour participation,” he added.