Op 8 februari kreeg Remco Evenepoel groen licht om na zijn zware blessure weer op de fiets te kruipen. Een kleine 3 weken later maakt de renner van Deceuninck-Quick Step de balans op. "Alles loopt goed", zegt Evenepoel.
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Remco Evenepoel: "I can put the fact that I couldn't follow on De Muur into perspective"
On February 8, Remco Evenepoel got the green light to get back on the bike after his serious injury. Just under 3 weeks later, the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider assesses the situation. "Everything is going well," says Evenepoel.
In the first week of his comeback, Remco Evenepoel was alone on the rollers, since last Friday he has finally been cycling outside again.
"I feel good at the moment", said Evenepoel this afternoon in an informal chat with the national press.
"I think I have to go to the hospital one more time for a check-up. It is now mainly important to analyze every week and to build up the hours and intensity step by step."
"I will do stability training with physiotherapist Lieven Maesschalck. Not to gain strength, but because I was inactive for a long time, I have to make my body firm again."
"Modern cyclists, and especially time trialists, need stability exercises to make the most of their strength in that specific position. It is also a nice alternative to training, in addition to cycling."
"I can place that I couldn't follow on De Muur"
Physically and mentally, Evenepoel has had to endure a real test. But whoever sees (and hears) him again these days can only say that he shines in his own skin.
"I knew that I would be able to start the season later than my competitors, but when I was not allowed on the bike, it was still a bit difficult. Then you are at home and that is difficult."
"But there are a lot of people in the team who helped me to keep myself upright. That worked out well."
Evenepoel still has to take significant steps physically. "In normal circumstances I ride up a short slope in the neighborhood, so to speak, while it is now gasping for air."
"But look: if you have been lying still for 4 months, that is normal. That is now the most difficult step to take: breeding that long distance again. Positive: I feel that it is getting better every day."
"That I got dropped yesterday at the Muur? I can place that. Those men are already close to their top form, for me it was only my fifth ride outside. I thought I was still holding up well."
"I put myself aside for a while on the steepest part, but it was really nice to be able to cycle with the guys from the team again."
"Prefer 3 months to grow slowly"
It is a countdown to the Tour of Italy, which starts on May 8. But as he mentioned earlier, Evenepoel does not set the bar too high there.
"I am going to the Giro without ambition, without expectations. There is nothing to be done, it is my preparation for the summer. I will be on an upward trend, also during those three weeks of the Giro itself."
"In preparation, I included an altitude training course in Tenerife next week. Whether that is not too early? No. I will not train like the others. Three to four hours a day, no more. It is especially necessary to get back into the rhythm. "
"After that a second altitude training course will follow in April, with the team. At altitude it is slightly easier to work on the basic condition."
"I could start racing in the Ardennes 2 weeks earlier, but that makes no sense. I'd rather take the time to grow for 3 months, then I could possibly have a bad day there."
"I have not yet studied the route of the Giro. I have got through the broad outlines, but there is no time to explore. The priority is now getting in order conditionally. Even though I already know the queen stage. They have climbs. I've already done training. "
"Good and sometimes too extreme measures"
Finally: what does Evenepoel think of the measures the UCI is taking to improve the safety of the riders?
"There will be many good measures, but also some less good ones. Sometimes even too extreme. I myself drove 50 kilometers in the Tour of Poland with my hands on my steering wheel. That is much more relaxed for hands and shoulders. also more aerodynamic. Riders know what can and cannot be done in that area. "
"On the other hand: it can be done faster than you want or think. Unfortunately there are many examples of this. So caution is required and it would not be bad to hang nets here and there, for example on a ravine."
Evenepoel also briefly returned to the research that UCI CEO Lappartient requested after the fall of Evenepoel in the Tour of Lombardy. There sports director Bramati allegedly got "something" out of Evenepoel's back pocket.
Evenepoel has sent an email to Lappartient about the incident. "I have done nothing wrong. It is a pity that there is so little confidence in the riders. At that moment you are lying in your bed half broken in recovery, you are blackened and you get hit on the head again, figuratively then. That's just a shame. "
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From the same press conference, Wielerflits writes that Evenepoel won't even be doing any recons for the Giro stages... I'm not sure this is the best idea for a first GT. Plenty of descending, not to mention the "Strade" stage. He already crashed in Adriatica Ionica on gravel roads, and from Sénéchal's comments back then, he really was out of his depth there. But of course, not like he just recovered from a hard crash or anything.
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