Remco Evenepoel is today at the start of the Itzulia 2024, popularly known as the Tour of the Basque Country. The leader of Soudal Quick-Step will compete against the absolute world top. After all, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss and Juan Ayuso are all present.
One thing is certain: it will be a very entertaining edition of the Tour of the Basque Country. “There will be much less tactical jousting than at times in Paris-Nice. Here it will be a lot more races with the common sense now,” Evenepoel noted before the start VTM News.
“The ideal preparation for the Ardennes classics,” continued Patrick Lefevere’s group, who has already finished second in the Basque Country in 2022. “I won’t say that it is a ‘passage obligatoire’, but personally this stage race is very useful for me to gain some extra racing rhythm and explosiveness. I know them well and I like them too.”
Take a risk
The riders are presented with tough stages for a whole week. No uphill finishes this year, but stages that lend themselves to aggressive and attacking drivers. “Just like Roglic, I dare to go to the final straight line with most competitors. In any case, it will be a spectacle every day. I will have to read the race carefully. And maybe dare to take a risk every now and then,” says Evenepoel.
Favorite
Today we start with an individual time trial. There is a good chance that Evenepoel will immediately wear the leader’s jersey. “That we may immediately have to carry the weight of the leader’s jersey? Okay, so be it. It doesn’t deter us.”
“Then it will be up to other teams and riders to make plans and attack. I feel strongly surrounded. Not least by Mikel, ‘local hero’ with tons of experience, who knows the region like the back of his hand.”
