Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme said on Thursday that he would be delighted to have Remco Evenepoel at the race, adding with nuance: “whatever year that will be”.
However, the world champion’s team manager Patrick Lefevere shied away from revealing if Evenepoel will target the 2023 Tour, delaying any announcement until Soudal-QuickStep's expected presentation on January 7.
“I’ll disappoint people but that’ll stay a question until January 7, we will not decide today, absolutely not,” Lefevere told Cyclingnews at the 2023 Tour presentation in Paris on Thursday.
“We just saw the route and it's still warm. You should never take a decision when things are still warm."
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Lefevere added: “Over the next few weeks we’ll take a close look at everything and make the final decision. Remco has proven that he can also go uphill. In the Giro, in addition to the three time trials, there are also mountain stages. I don't rule out anything for Evenepoel. A good Remco can do well on every kind of course.”
Evenepoel is still on holiday and so was not in Paris for the Tour presentation. He may be tempted to target the Giro d’Italia next season due to the balance between demanding mountain stages and the 70km of time trials.
If Evenepoel doesn’t ride the Tour, Lefevere can count on Julian Alaphilippe and sprinter Fabio Jakobsen - or perhaps Tim Merlier - to target stage victories, the green jersey and a spell in the leader’s yellow jersey.
Lefevere has often refused to target overall victory in a Grand Tour alongside sprint wins but he teasingly refused to reveal his team leadership cards for 2023.
"It’s a Tour de France with different difficulties. I counted eight flat, well flattish stages, eight mountain stages and a tough start in the Basque Country. Julian Alaphilippe and possibly a good Remco Evenepoel could do well there. I'm not ruling anything out,” Lefevere said.
“We also have two top sprinters with Merlier and Jakobsen. If eight sprints are possible, then one of those two must also participate. We have to look at that.”
