Cycling, Evenepoel: "I want to win another great Giro"

Rome, 6 November 2024 - In the last few days he has been the protagonist of a transfer market rumour, which has also found more confirmations, than he saw it in orbit of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe with a salary proposal of 10 million per season: in the end, for various reasons, nothing came of it and so Remco Evenepoel will remain at Soudal Quick Step next year too, with several growth objectives. Before the future, however, the Belgian took a step back to the microphones of Het Nieuwsblad, which also awarded him the prestigious prize Flandrien.

Hunting for Grand Tours

The central objective, of course, will still be the Tour de France. But not only that. "Last year's third place gave me great confidence, motivating me to do even better in the Grand Tours. It doesn't matter what, but I would like to experience the sensation of winning a stage race again: therefore, my focus will be on this". Who knows, maybe in the end the winner will be Giro d'Italia, which however, having not yet presented its own path, can compete even less in the eternal head to head with the Great Boucle. "Running in France it's not a joke, and even less so is ranking. Everyone has to be at the top, even at team level: this year it went well, but it could have gone even better for some teammates". A message also shared by Patrick Lefebvre, patron of the Soudal Quic Step. "If we want to compete with l'UAE Team Emirates and with the Visma-Lease a Bike we need to grow as a collective and we have already talked about this at the end Tour de France: it's up to the runners and supervisors to improve themselves". The same evenepoel, now on holiday in Morocco, probably has to grow uphill: in time trials, however, there are no rivals today. "Last season I dominated in races against the clock. I have also grown as a climber, but Tadej pogacar e jonas vingegaard are stronger, as well as my points of reference". Finally, a more long-term thought. "I'm young, in January I'll be turning 25 years, and I still have time to win the Grand Tours. Maybe I'll be on top for others 5 6-years, so I have to take advantage of the moment. My goals are to win the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia and - concludes evenepoel - I want to invest fully in this."

Merlier's Dream

Staying at home Soudal Quick Step, also Tim Merlier has expectations for his 2025, as confessed to Het Nieuwsblad. "I don't know yet if I'll be at the Tour de France, I know that several pieces will have to fit together for this to happen and I hope that this happens. I have already won a stage at the Great Boucle and if I were to go back I would like to bag a second one, maybe even dreaming of the yellow jersey: in this case, he will have to give me a good hand Bert Van Lerberghe, which can also be useful in mountain stages." merlier, strong in his European champion jersey, plays at being a sports director before indulging in sweet memories. "The continental title was important to me, even more than the stages won at the Giro d'Italia".

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