This summer, it will finally happen. Remco Evenepoel, at 24 years old, will compete in the Tour de France for the first time. This will also be the first time that he will face the big three of the Grand Tours: Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic.
Evenepoel goes to La Grande Boucle with modest ambitions. He has his sights set on a stage win and a top-five finish in the general classification. However, George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong’s former gregarious on the Tour, sees more capabilities in the Belgian phenomenon, in the pocast “The Move”, with Lance Armstrong and Johann Bruyneel.
Hincapie confident in Evenepoel’s abilities
“I have nothing but love for the kid,” Hincapie said on ‘The Move’ podcast.
“He has already won the Vuelta, dominated the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he is an extra-world class in time trials and climbing, he has a super team behind him, he is very good at positioning…, Evenepoel has everything it takes to finish on the Tour podium. I think he will stay on the podium.”
Lance Armstrong, on the other hand, isn’t so sure. “I disagree,” said the American. “I don’t see that happening. At least not on his first appearance. The Tour is a different beast. It’s not the
“I would like to see Evenepoel change his riding style, becoming more conservative. He should view a grand tour as a three-week stage race rather than 21 one-day races. He aims to be in the top five. That, in my opinion, is an achievable goal.”
Pogacar, Vingegaard and Roglic are of different class
Armstrong also sees Evenepoel with the ability to be in the top five. “But Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic are from a different class. Remco is not in that class. These three guys are on a whole different level. Evenepoel also always seems to have a bad day. And in the Tour de France, you can’t have a bad day. This simply cannot happen. You can’t hide it either. He ended up placing 30th…” concluded Lance Armstrong.
