Remco Evenepoel has signalled his opposition to the inclusion of gravel roads on the route of the 2024 Tour de France. The Belgian’s concerns echo those voiced by his Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere after the course was presented in Paris on Wednesday.
Stage 9 of next year’s Tour will feature no fewer than 32.2km of gravel roads, distributed across 14 sections. The 199km stage around Troyes looks set to provide one of the pivotal afternoons of the entire race.
Evenepoel’s past experience of racing on gravel in a Grand Tour was an unhappy one, as he lost over two minutes on the road to Montalcino on the 2021 Giro d’Italia. He also conceded the overall lead of the 2022 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on the gravel section of the Alto Antenas del Maigmó Tibi.
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Evenepoel suggested that the gravel roads of the Champagne region did not belong on the Tour de France.
"Separate events and championships for gravel are already being organised," Evenepoel said. "Should gravel sections like that absolutely still be included in a Grand Tour or in other, normal, races? I don't really think it's necessary.”
Evenepoel's team manager Patrick Lefevere and Jumbo-Visma boss Richard Plugge have both also come out against the inclusion of the gravel sectors in the Grand Tour, with Plugge saying that the stage is "unnecessary".
"I think it is a bit unnecessary [to include gravel]," he said earlier this week. "It increases the chance of bad luck. We want the fight to be as fair as possible. A ride like this, in my opinion, does not contribute to that"
Despite his past travails on gravel, Evenepoel has also raced on the surface by choice, lining out at the Belgian Waffle Ride in Kansas in the Autumn of 2021. He also pointed out that he occasionally incorporates gravel roads in his training rides in Belgium.
“When I train in Pajottenland, I sometimes cross over to Leuven, which is not that far away, and I sometimes dare to take on such a gravel sector,” Evenepoel said. “If you are lucky, the somewhat loose surface will be hard, and it will feel like you are just riding on asphalt.”
Evenepoel is expected to make his Tour de France debut in 2024 on a route that features some 59km of time trialling, but he has also floated the idea of returning to the Giro d’Italia, which he abandoned while wearing the maglia rosa in May.
Lefevere, however, has strongly advised Evenepoel against attempting the Giro-Tour double, particularly given his aspirations at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“He still has an account open with the Giro and he was considering combining the Tour and the Giro,” Lefevere told Sporza. “But with what comes next, with the Olympic Games, for example, the Giro-Tour combination does not seem to be the best idea to me."
