{"id":194670,"date":"2023-12-18T10:58:45","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T10:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=194670"},"modified":"2023-12-18T11:02:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T11:02:19","slug":"news-roundup-evenepoel-at-the-tour-sagan-and-the-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/12\/18\/news-roundup-evenepoel-at-the-tour-sagan-and-the-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"News Roundup: Evenepoel at the Tour, Sagan and the Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remco Evenepoel is definitely going to the Tour de France next year. Last year\u2019s ITT world champion who will turn 24 in January told<\/a> Het Nieuwsblad, \u201cNext season is focused on Li\u00e8ge [Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne- Li\u00e8ge], the Tour and the Olympic Games in Paris, followed by the World Cup. My ambitions? I hope for a third victory in Li\u00e8ge; it is a dream to leave Paris with two medals.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The dream matchup of the Belgian Soudal\u2013QuickStep rider taking on two-time Tour winners Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates) as well as Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d (BORA-hansgrohe as of Jan. 1) in the world\u2019s greatest cycling road race next year looks like it will become reality \u2013 barring injury or illness, of course.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel was uncharacteristically modest in setting out his expectations for the race. The Tour, he said, \u201cwill be a voyage of discovery. The gods of stage racing are at the start with Vingegaard, Poga\u010dar and Rogli\u010d. Top five is the ambition. It would be a dream come true if I performed better than just one of these three. And a stage win is also possible, of course. Then I will have won a stage in the three Grand Tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evenepoel spoke with the public after receiving the Belgian Sportsman of the Year award for the third time. But I don\u2019t know if he ever said before a race that he would be satisfied with a non-podium finish. It\u2019s difficult to believe that this is what he really thinks.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel went on to say that 2024 \u201cwill be a season with few races. \u201cFrom May, in the build-up to the Tour and the Games, I will no longer be at home and will alternate altitude training with competitions. So, for Li\u00e8ge, I want to spend as much time as possible at my Spanish base, close to the family. I can train well uphill there, [because] it is easier to ride the kilometres with the time-trial bike. And most importantly, it will keep me mentally fresh. I want to start my preparation for the Tour with a fresh and clear head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the difficulty of next year\u2019s Tour, it\u2019s understandable that he wants to be as fresh as possible in the run-up to the race. If everyone manages to stay healthy, it should be an epic race.<\/p>\n

Peter Sagan will begin his 2024 MTB season on February 11 in Abu Dhabi, according to an interview <\/a>posted on the site formerly known as Twitter by the Slovak photographer\/blogger and cyclist Luk\u00e1\u0161 Ronald Luk\u00e1cs. That race will be followed by an MTB event at Chelva, on February 17-18, then on to Banyoles one week later. The seven-time Tour de France \u0160koda Green Jersey<\/a> winner, who retired from road racing this year, went on to say, \u201cI’ve won a lot on the road but in recent years, I’ve stopped enjoying it. I have always had the desire to return to what I like the most, i.e., riding MTB, being in the middle of nature, jumping, experiencing adrenaline. I am 33 years old, it was time to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
Starting next year, one of the most successful cyclists of all time will resume his career in MTB, which he gave up at the end of 2009 to join the Liquigas-Doimo team. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sagan won the junior MTB world championship in 2008 before switching to road racing in 2009 but he has always dreamed of returning to the discipline. As he put it in the interview, \u201cI\u2019ve always said: \u2018I was born in MTB, I will die in MTB.\u2019 In fact, I was never too sure about becoming a professional road cyclist when I was a junior.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that it is important to have a solid foundation to race in MTB: \u201c<\/b>The foundation is always important, especially in winter. But I still add some quality. I will increase the pace [of training] from January. Strength in the gym is also fundamental but the decisive point for me is technique. I have to improve!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sagan went on to say that he would train in South Africa before heading to Abu Dhabi for the first race of the year. \u201cBut overall, my main goal for the next year will be to participate in the Paris Olympics,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce the season starts, I will understand what my level is and how to proceed with the plans. I will do my best to be competitive again and, above all, to have fun again.\u201d<\/p>\n

And speaking of the Paris Olympics, the Dutch veteran Wout Poels, who is coming off one of his best seasons, has been complaining<\/a> to GCN about the format of the Olympics\u2019 road race, in which only 90 riders are to take part, many of them from countries with a limited cycling experience. The 36-year-old Bahrain-Victorious rider won a stage in the Vuelta and the Tour de France this year and wants to ride the Giro to try and have a stage win in every Grand Tour. And he really wants to ride in the Olympics but his participation is uncertain because of the rider limit, which he said will eliminate some of the best riders from the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s ridiculous what they\u2019ve done with all the spots,\u201d Poels said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a feeling that in the last 10 years, cyclists have really started to target the Olympics more. It\u2019s a real shame that they now make the rules that the peloton will only be 90 riders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Netherlands will be limited to three riders in the race, one of whom will be Mathieu van der Poel, which means that Wout Poels\u2019 participation is not guaranteed. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous because you don\u2019t have all the best riders at the start,\u201d he said. \u201cThen all these countries with no cycling history, they have riders there who can\u2019t even follow for 10 km. It\u2019s a nice Olympic thought but it doesn\u2019t really work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remco Evenepoel is definitely going to the Tour de France next year. Last year\u2019s ITT world champion who will turn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":192596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[5450,381,1221,583,1057],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-194670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-peter-sagan","tag-primoz-roglic","tag-road-cycling","tag-wout-poels","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nNews Roundup: Evenepoel at the Tour, Sagan and the Olympics - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Remco Evenepoel is definitely going to the Tour de France next year. 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