Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has finally got back to riding outside two months after sustaining several injuries from a collision with a vehicle that suddenly opened a door in front of him in December.
The Olympic champion suffered fractures to his ribs, hand and shoulder blade, alongside dislocating his collarbone, which caused nerve damage in his shoulder, prolonging his recovery. This majorly derailed his preparations for the 2025 season and saw him off the bike for over six weeks, only getting back on the rollers midway through January.
Finally, he's getting back into the swing of things, recording his first outdoor ride since the incident on Strava this past Saturday with 64km in the saddle near Brussels, followed up by another 67km on Sunday.
Granted it's only four hours of riding and 700 metres of elevation gain and Evenepoel won't be pinning on a race number for some time, however, he is finally back on track in February ahead of his planned return on April 18 at De Brabantse Pijl.
"Back outside," read Evenepoel's ride caption on Saturday. "Getting there very slowly but surely.
"Get yourself together and make the future bright."
If all goes to plan with his return in spring, Evenepoel, now 25, will ride a full Ardennes Classics campaign from the Amstel Gold Race to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, before racing the Critérium du Dauphiné and turning his full focus to another GC bid at the Tour de France.
He was third on debut at the Tour last season and will look to again compete with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who will both get their 2025 seasons underway this month at the UAE Tour and Volta ao Algarve respectively.
With such a speedbump to his season, before it even got started, Evenpoel had all eyes on the Tour even back in January, hopeful he can re-find the form that saw him take a maiden stage win and the best young rider's white jersey last July.
"I know that one day I will reach my old level again," he told HLN in January. "And I hope that I will be at my very best in the Tour."
