Remco Evenepoel headlines our team for the event taking place between 29 June-21 July.
The most important race of the year gets underway in just a couple of days, from Firenze, the cradle of the Renaissance and one of Italy’s most stunning cities, which gets to host the 26th foreign Grand Départ in the Tour de France’s history. It will be for the first time that Le Tour starts from Italy, marking exactly one hundred years since the country’s first overall triumph at the race, brought by the legendary Ottavio Bottecchia.
Covering a total of 3492 kilometers, the parcours of the 111th edition will include five summit finishes: Saint-Lary-Soulan, Plateau de Beille, Superdévoluy, Isola 2000 and Col de la Couillole. The race is also set to feature the iconic Col du Galibier and Col du Tourmalet, a return to Cime de la Bonette, almost 60 kilometers of individual time trial, 35 of which come on the final stage between Monte Carlo and Nice, and an incredibly hard stage 9 around Troyes featuring more than 30 kilometers of gravel roads spread over 14 sectors.
For Remco Evenepoel, this will be his fifth Grand Tour start but first Tour de France presence. The 2022 Vuelta a España champion, a winner of five races this season – including stages in Paris-Nice and the Critérium du Dauphiné – is looking forward to this experience.
“Riding the Tour de France is the dream of every kid who falls in love with cycling. It’s something I too have dreamed about since the moment I rode my bike and I’m incredibly excited to be at the start for the first time in my career with this great team. We have a strong squad and we are ready to give our best. Of course, I would like to have a good Tour and get some nice results, but let’s not forget it’s my debut in this hard and beautiful event which is unlike any other, so the plan is to discover the race, take it one day at a time and see where this leads us”, said Remco ahead of traveling to France.
Joining the 24-year-old Belgian on the Soudal Quick-Step squad for the Grande Boucle will be Jan Hirt – a top ten finisher in May at the Giro d’Italia – Yves Lampaert, Volta a Catalunya runner-up Mikel Landa, who brings a wealth of experience on the climbs, Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen, Ilan Van Wilder and Louis Vervaeke.
“With both Remco and Mikel on the team we can aim for a good result in the general classification. Mikel has a lot of experience, as do many of our riders, and together they make for quite a strong and balanced team. Looking on the parcours, I think you can easily say this will be one of the toughest editions in recent years. The start is very hard, we have some big climbs early in the race followed by that gravel stage, and then the second and third week will be very demanding. We need to be focused and at the top of our game to get some good results, and we are confident in this team and what it can do this July”, said sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
