{"id":198397,"date":"2025-04-16T14:19:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=198397"},"modified":"2025-04-16T14:19:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:19:27","slug":"remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/16\/remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence\/","title":{"rendered":"Remco Evenepoel (Finally) Returns to Racing This Week After Lengthy Convalescence"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all been so focused on the thrilling \u201cBattle of the Superstars\u201d between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Poga\u010dar in the past few weeks that we forgot that there was a third superstar recuperating from a bad crash who might have played a big role during this Classics season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking of course about Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), who crashed into the door of a van on December 3, breaking a rib, his right shoulder blade, and his right hand, bruising both his lungs and damaging a nerve in his shoulder. If that sounds serious, it was. It was so serious and the recovery so difficult that last year\u2019s double Olympics champion described it in a social media post<\/a> as \u201cthe hardest battle of my life so far\u201d \u2013 which is saying a lot since he came close to suffering career-ending injuries in the 2020 Il Lombardia, when he crashed into a stone bridge at the end of a high-speed descent and fell into a ravine.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to his first competitive race in more than five months, Friday\u2019s La Fl\u00e8che Braban\u00e7onne, he wrote, \u201cFinally, my comeback week has arrived. After days, weeks, and months of waiting and waiting, I can finally look toward to my first races. The way to where I am now has been very hard and challenging. Definitely the hardest battle of my life so far. Mentally and physically, I can honestly say that I have been under the ground and really doubted a lot of my future. Loads of tears and frustration were present in our life.”<\/p>\n

He went on to thank his wife Oumi Rayane and credited her with keeping him from abandoning the sport. “I just want to tell, that without you, I would probably have stopped my career,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat is from where you helped me crawling back up. I can only say that I love you so much and thank you for who you are. You are the most beautiful person (inside and outside) in the whole universe. And I am so incredibly proud to be your husband and to be able to fight for us and our future.”<\/p>\n

Evenepoel has always worn his heart on his sleeve, for better or worse, and to an extent that distinguishes him from his peers. Even when there is no drama in a race, the 25-year-old Belgian sometimes creates drama almost out of nothing via his impromptu reactions to a fellow rider\u2019s refusal to cooperate or a dog crossing the road. He is passionate about what and who he loves. We missed him.<\/p>\n

\"Remco<\/a>
Evenepoel returns to racing. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Every day, you came up with a lesson,\u201d he wrote, still addressing his wife. \u201cYou have been teaching me so much stuff, on all aspects in life! How to get through hard periods, how to stay focussed, how to be happy while it is difficult. We had and will still have loads of prayers together, which is such an incredible thing you taught me. And which is such an incredible feeling to share with you!\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to also thank his parents \u201cfor always being there for me. And helping me with whatever it can be!\u201d and his medical staff: \u201cTHANK YOU. We came from far back, but we made it\u2026 again.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Friday\u2019s race, Evenepoel is scheduled to ride in the Ardennes Classics \u2013 the \u00a0Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne the following Wednesday and Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge on April 27. Then, two days after the Li\u00e8ge, he will line up for the six-stage Tour de Romandie. He is clearly in a hurry to get his racing legs back.<\/p>\n

In all three Classics Evenepoel will face off against Poga\u010dar<\/a> (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG).\u00a0In normal times that would be a mouth-watering series of superstar battles, almost on a par with van der Poel vs. Poga\u010dar<\/a>. But this is not a normal time because Evenepoel is recovering from serious injuries. It takes riders a long time to reach optimal fitness after such a hard crash and long convalescence. Just look at Wout van Aert,<\/a> who is still looking for his best form after sustaining a bad knee injury in last year\u2019s Vuelta.<\/p>\n

In addition, Evenepoel is targeting not the Classics, but the Tour de France. Which is too bad because I think he is, or can be, a Classics rider on a par with van der Poel and Poga\u010dar. But I doubt if he will ever beat the Slovenian in the Tour. Perhaps, if he comes close to his best form in July, he can finish ahead of two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), who currently has his own injury problems, and perhaps he\u2019ll win the Giro one day and the Vuelta again. But the Tour? Not as long as Poga\u010dar is riding it \u2013 and you know that he will ride it until he has won it a record six times.<\/p>\n

But I would dearly love to see Remco at his best go up against Poga\u010dar and van der Poel in a Monument such as Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge<\/a>, which Evenepoel has won twice. They met in the 2023 edition of the race, but the Slovenian crashed and had to abandon. Still, Evenepoel is a remarkable athlete and may surprise us all in one of the upcoming races. I\u2019m rooting for him. A sport can never have too many bona fide superstars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all been so focused on the thrilling \u201cBattle of the Superstars\u201d between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Poga\u010dar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":197383,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[8464,2720,3544],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-198397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-la-fleche-brabanconne","tag-pro-cycling","tag-remco-evenepoel","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nRemco Evenepoel (Finally) Returns to Racing This Week After Lengthy Convalescence - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all been so focused on the thrilling \u201cBattle of the Superstars\u201d between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Poga\u010dar in the past few weeks that we forgot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/16\/remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remco Evenepoel (Finally) Returns to Racing This Week After Lengthy Convalescence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all been so focused on the thrilling \u201cBattle of the Superstars\u201d between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Poga\u010dar in the past few weeks that we forgot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/16\/remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-16T14:19:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2024\/12\/Remco-Evenepoel-profimedia-0920089540-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/16\/remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/04\/16\/remco-evenepoel-finally-returns-to-racing-this-week-after-lengthy-convalescence\/\",\"name\":\"Remco Evenepoel (Finally) Returns to Racing This Week After Lengthy Convalescence - 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