July is calling and Remco Evenepoel is ready to answer. The Soudal-Quickstep rider will make his Tour de France debut just ahead of his second appearance in the Olympic Games, a double goal into which he is pouring all of his energy.
Speaking to the media at the team's presentation in Calpe, Spain, Evenepoel's confident manner and adroit answers to reporters' questions belied his age. At just 23 he's one of the top riders in the world - twice a world champion, winner of a Grand Tour and a Monument - but he's as eager as a neo-pro to make his Tour de France debut.
"The Tour de France and the Olympic Games in the same month are two of the most famous sports competitions in the whole world. [July] will be a very exciting month special month," Evenepoel said. "Everything is focused on that month ... where I have to perform at the highest level that I've ever done."
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Betting everything on a single month could be stressful for most athletes but for Evenepoel, having the Tour de France on his calendar gives a sense of purpose and relief.
"It's just something that's exciting - finally it's there, it's coming," Evenepoel said. "I also feel it in my training. I'm super motivated to do every training to the detail - not 10 minutes less or 10 minutes more - just everything to the detail; perfect the diet, everything, because I'm so excited to start the Tour.
"It's a new kind of energy that I haven't felt for quite a long time. It's only going to be a good thing knowing that I'll be racing the Tour this year."
Last year's Grand Tours didn't go to plan for the Belgian. He was leading the Giro d'Italia and won the stage 9 time trial before testing positive for COVID-19 and leaving on the first rest day. Then, in his Vuelta a España overall title defence, he had spent the weeks before building for the unified World Championships, where he won the time trial, and was lacking preparation for a Grand Tour but still came away with three stage wins.
"I feel a bit different in my head now than I was over the last summer," he said. "After the COVID infection in the Giro, things got quite mad in every aspect. So it was a bit always up and down and finding the rhythm back, which wasn't easy."
Now that the rumours of a possible team transfer, then a now-scuttled merger of the team with the Jumbo-Visma squad, have ended with a stable future with Soudal-Quickstep, Evenepoel is more relaxed.
"It really changed, also training has gone pretty smooth. I will not be stressed if I cannot train a day or if I have to skip a day, which wasn't the case over the last few years. So all those things will probably help me in the races, and it will save some energy for hectic moments in competition."
For July, Evenepoel is keeping his public expectations realistic - hoping for a stage win at the Tour de France at a minimum and two podiums at the Olympics - even if his private ambitions are higher.
"It's going to be an exciting month, an exciting new journey for me. And I just hope that I can arrive in perfect condition and with a lot of energy to have a big month of racing."
The focus on the Tour may mean fans will see fewer of Evenepoel's signature long-range attacks, but he promises that he will have some freedom to race his "crazy ideas".
"I think for example, in a Paris-Nice and a Basque Country race, I can still race how I like, and having a bit of crazy ideas. But then for sure like Tour de Suisse, Dauphiné, Tour de France. Grand Tours are a completely different story."
When asked if he can make the podium in the Tour de France, he hesitated and qualified his answer. "It's possible, probably, but of course, everything has to go well. It's difficult to say what result I will get in the GC. My main goal will be to go out with a stage win, at least one hopefully, and then we'll see about the GC.
Stability
Last season wasn't only about racing for Evenepoel as much of the season featured media polemics. If it wasn't swirling rumours that he would break his contract with QuickStep, spurred on in part by his father who acts as his agent and who was doubtful that the team could support a Tour de France bid, it was spurious accusations that he was faking his COVID positive at the Giro. Then, during the Vuelta, the news of a potential takeover by Visma grabbed the headlines.
Evenepoel admitted that last year, he paid too much attention to what the press was writing about him, "which probably made me lose a bit of self-confidence over the last season as well," he said.
"It's actually a bit crazy that all these stories were big headlines because from the outside it [looked so] much bigger than it actually was. So it was a bit surprising for me to see so many details which weren't even the truth. So it has been strange and a bit harsh as well."
An extended break after the Chrono des Nations in October helped, he added.
"I think it's helped me to change a bit in my head and in my approach to everything, actually," he said, adding a hint that the uncertainty around Soudal-QuickStep's future may be resolved.
In November, manager Patrick Lefevere said the merger with Visma would not be revisited for next year, and that he was at the whim of majority owner Zdenek Bakala, who could decide to sell the team.
"It's difficult to feel a change in just a few weeks," Evenepoel said after being asked about the energy within the team. "For sure, over the months, over the weeks, over the years, we will feel this new energy more and more. It's something good for us something good for the team. And it's just good that this team stays alive because it's a legendary team in cycling, and it's something that the cycling world cannot live without."
When asked for clarification, his quick, decisive responses waivered. "We're finding out a lot of details like [how] every other team is doing," he said before pivoting to the team's expectations. "We have to come back to the level of some other teams. But for sure, we're doing a great job on that.
"We're looking for a higher level on personal aspects on the team aspect, staff aspect, just everything. If you want to be up there fighting against the UAEs, Jumbos [Visma-Lease a Bike - ed.], or the Ineos team for GCs in Grand Tours or in one-week races, we need everybody to perform at the best level from day one till the final day in the season. And even in the winter. Everybody has to go for it. And you already feel it - everybody's excited to get into the new season."
His meteoric rise from the juniors to the top of the sport has taken just five seasons and when asked if he could appreciate how exceptional his years have been, he said, "It's going crazy fast, but I appreciate it ... I have to appreciate it because there are other guys that have to work for many more years and cannot even win a race. I think I have to thank nature for these talents, and that's why I have to appreciate it."
