Although Soudal Quick-Step is in Calpe, Spain right now for a training camp and media day on Thursday, its star rider, Remco Evenepoel, the double Olympic champion, did however give interviews to the media via video call about how he is feeling and updates from medical professionals.
Evenepoel had intended to race by early March, but was doored on Dec. 3, colliding with a mail van door has made that impossible. This left him with multiple fractures, including a broken wrist, ribs, and a shoulder blade.
Ardennes will launch his season
“I am aiming to return at the Ardèche and Drôme Classic,” he told La Dernière Heure. “Now, if I can resume outdoor training by Feb. 4-5, I’ll have just three weeks in the legs before those races.”
He hopes to be in good form for the Ardennes Classics, starting with the Flèche Brabançonne on April 18, followed by Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
As for the Giro d’Italia, it’s totally “off the table” as he said, since it’s too early. His primary target remains the 2025 Tour de France.
🚴♂️🚴 #Calp ha sido un año más el escenario de la presentación del equipo Soudal-Quick Step, que no ha podido contar con la presencia del doble campeón olímpico, Remco Evenepoel, convaleciente de una fractura de clavícula, si bien intervino a través de una videoconferencia. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/uoFczMiXNi
— Ayuntamiento de Calp (@calp_ayto) January 10, 2025
“I had my scan on Thursday morning,” he told Wielerflits in a video call. “With positive news, because the result was good. After that, I was able to start my first session with the physiotherapist in Herentals. So my rehabilitation can finally begin. We take it day by day. We want to make sure that everything is 100 per cent restored. I need to strengthen my muscles. A nerve has been hit on the outside of the shoulder. This makes the outside feel a bit dead. The pain is not too bad, except when getting up. Then it is as if twenty trucks have passed over it. There is also no muscle reaction yet.”
Knowing his team is getting in base miles in Spain has been hard on him, given that he is unable to ride at all.
Tough pill to swallow
“That was and is very difficult to accept. I’m literally lying in bed, my condition is deteriorating day by day, while everyone else is now improving their form. I haven’t done any exercise for five weeks now. Not on the bike, not in the gym,” he said. “It’s hard…
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