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Remco Evenepoel has kicked off his preparation for the 2025 Tour de France, with a first ride on home roads.
Between now and Saturday July 5, when the Tour begins in Lille, in northern France, Evenepoel will gradually increase his training load, attend a three-week altitude train camp and race the Criterium du Dauphine (June 8-15) and the Belgian national championships on June 27 and 29.
Evenepoel signalled the start of his Tour de France training on Strava, naming a 70km near his home south of Brussels as “3-2-1, C’est Partiiieeee’ with an emoticon of a French flag and a baguette.
Evenepoel finished third overall behind Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard as he made his Tour de France debut last summer. He won the time trial stage and the best young rider’s white jersey.
Evenepoel took a week of racing and structured training after riding the recent Tour de Romandie. He won the final time trial around Geneva and finished fifth overall in the Swiss stage race.
The Soudal-QuickStep team leader was forced to take six weeks off the bike to recover after being doored by a driver in training on December 3.
He fractured his rib, hand and shoulder blade, and dislocated his collarbone, which has caused nerve damage in his shoulder and further slowed his return to training. He made his 2025 debut at the De Brabantse Pijl and won the one-day race before finishing third at Amstel Gold Race and ninth at Flèche Wallonne.
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“I can look back on these last couple of weeks with satisfaction. I took two wins since returning to competition and found the rhythm again,” Evenepoel said after his block of racing.
“Not everything went as I had wanted and hoped in some of the races, but it’s only normal after so much time off the bike. I will now recover a bit and then continue my preparations for the summer.”