Deceuninck-QuickStep's Remco Evenepoel says that he's looking forward to getting under way on the first stage of indoor race series the Digital Swiss 5 on Wednesday, which pits 19 pro teams of three riders against each other on sections of stages from this year's cancelled Tour de Suisse, all conducted on the Rouvy virtual platform using video footage of the course.
Evenepoel will take on the opening stage – 26.6km from Agarn to Leukerbad – alongside teammates Dries Devenyns and Pieter Serry, while Deceuninck-QuickStep will also field the likes of Julian Alaphilippe and Sam Bennett later in the week, as teams can choose their three riders for each stage of the race, depending on which riders will best suit the distance and terrain.
"I talked the other day with the guys, and they're all looking forward to this, as it should be really fun," Evenepoel said on his team's website on Tuesday. "We don't quite know what to expect, but one thing is certain: it promises to be an exciting indoor race series, which is more than welcome in these quiet and strange times when road cycling has been cancelled. It's great for us, it's great also for our fans, and I'm sure they will watch and root for 'The Wolfpack'."
The five stages take place each day from April 22-26, and can be watched live in a number of ways – and you can find those viewing options here.
A full start list can be viewed here, but as well as those from Deceuninck-QuickStep, the other big-name riders taking part include Trek-Segafredo's Vincenzo Nibali, Mads Pedersen and Bauke Mollema, Michael Matthews of Team Sunweb, George Bennett and Primoz Roglic from Jumbo-Visma, Victor Campenaerts and Edvald Boasson Hagan (both NTT Pro Cycling), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Israel Start-Up Nation's Dan Martin, AG2R La Mondiale's Romain Bardet and Oliver Naesen, and recent 'virtual Tour of Flanders' winner Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team).
