Cyclingflash
Remco Evenepoel doesn't fear peaking too early: "There is still some room"

Remco Evenepoel doesn't fear peaking too early: "There is still some room"

Remco Evenepoel has secured his fifth win of the season. The Belgian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe clinched overall victory in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday. "It's really great to win my first stage race for my new team right away," he said afterward to, among others, VTM Nieuws.

"During the race, it was quite clear that things would be fairly calm," said Evenepoel. "I never got into any trouble. I think we always had the situation under control. We managed it well. The finish was hectic with slippery roads and many corners, but in the end, we crossed safely. That’s the most important thing."

Including his win in the Trofeo Ses Salines, Evenepoel already has six wins this year, but he doesn’t count the team time trial toward his individual total. "I don’t count a team time trial as an individual victory. Otherwise, I’d have something like 75 wins already instead of 72. So let’s say this is my fifth of the year. But of course, it’s a very nice start. I’ll try to keep this going. Now it’s time to recover and then the UAE Tour is coming up pretty soon."

What does Evenepoel take away from this week in Valencia? "That I can attack quite hard and maintain it. What we’ve worked a lot on is paying off. Am I afraid of being in form too early? No, I think that if I have a decent winter, I’m usually in good shape in the first few weeks. I haven’t had any altitude stimuli yet. I think we’ll gradually work toward my lowest weight. That means there’s still room to improve."

UAE Tour and long altitude camp
Evenepoel was also asked if he might be able to contend in Milan-San Remo in this form, a race not currently on his schedule. "No, we’ll stick to the plan. First the UAE Tour, then a long altitude camp, and then Catalonia. After that come the Ardennes Classics, my favorite races."

"We won’t get overconfident and will keep taking it step by step. It’s great that we’ve already achieved this win. Now it’s about looking ahead and trying to win as much as possible."