'I didn't expect to be at this level already' – Remco Evenepoel still improving ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège clash with Tadej Pogačar

Ahead of his highly anticipated clash with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) admitted that he wasn't expecting to be at such a high level already, only three races into his return from injury.

Evenepoel kicked off his first race back with a bang after 188 days away from competition at Brabantse Pijl, dropping everyone except Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), before outsprinting his compatriot to the win like he'd never been gone.

He backed this up with third at Amstel Gold Race, where, even after crashing, he reeled in Pogačar's 42km solo effort and missed out in the three-up sprint to Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Finally, he finished ninth at La Flèche Wallonne, the Ardennes Classic that suits him least, though he actually felt the best he has yet since coming back.

Few riders would have been capable of living up to the challenge presented by Pogačar on his favoured terrain, let alone without racing since October; however, Olympic champion Evenepoel is a special case and will similarly be looking for a third title at Liège on Sunday.

"Two months ago, I just started training, so it was pretty difficult to calculate how my form would be now. I've discussed it with the team now, and I was surprised after my first two races last week, the values and also the races that I could do already," said Evenepoel in his pre-Liège press conference. 

"Actually, I feel that I'm improving – in Flèche, I actually had the best day out of the three, I just blocked with the cold in the end. I think the positive thing is that I was feeling great, and we were happy with how we raced. 

"I didn't expect that I was going to be at this level already. Also in Amstel, it was straight away 260km with only 2 months of real training, you never know how that will end. I was surprised, and I think the team was as well, but that's only positive towards upcoming months as well, that I'm not too far behind everybody."

After Evenepoel's crash at Itzulia in 2024, Pogačar's crash during Liège in 2023, and the world champion pulling out before the 2022 edition after the passing of his partner Urška Žigart's mother, a direct battle between the pair has gone unseen as of yet in the Monument Classic.

While they are, of course, the two heavy favourites for Sunday, Evenepoel also said that there are several others who could compete for the victory, especially after Skjelmose managed to shock both the Olympic and world champion at Amstel last weekend.

"I think that, like in the Amstel, there are others who can claim victory. And that it will not necessarily be a direct duel with Pogačar," said Evenepoel. 

"In the end, we will see what kind of race it will be. Winning is winning, even if it is by one centimetre." 

Evenepoel has only raced Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice in his career, winning it on both occasions with long-range solo attacks. Even with this 100% record in mind and his surprisingly fantastic shape, Evenepoel said he is not feeling the pressure.

"The fact that I am already quite good does not change my approach. I should be happy that I am already at this level," said the Olympic champion. 

"I am certainly not at my best yet and will try to finish as high as possible, as always. I certainly do not feel any extra pressure, not even because I have already won twice here."

After all, his main goal in this comeback from injury, which left him questioning whether he should continue his career and saw him at a real low point mentally and physically, has always been the Tour de France in July.

His surprising form may not mean he'll beat Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but it does point to him reaching the Tour's Grand Départ in Lille in the shape of his life. It's an ominous sign of the Evenepoel we may see at his second Tour de France.

"The comeback now has been better than it was in Dauphiné last year. I also won the time trial there, but I was in a different feeling and different kind of shape," said Evenepoel. 

"If I can just continue building from the base that I have restarted with now, it would make sense that I would start the Tour in better shape and just be more stable there. 

"But I think it's still quite far away. We still have a lot of work to do, and think I have enough races where I can improve myself, test myself. I think day by day, I just have to trust the process and wait and see."

That process continues with Sunday's race in Wallonia, where, as part of Evenepoel's final Liège preparations, the Belgian reconnoitred the course on Friday with 2011 Ardennes triple winner Philippe Gilbert.

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Spring Classics coverage. Don't miss any of the breaking news, reports, and analysis from all the Classics from Opening Weekend to Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Find out more.