Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has lastly obtained again to driving outdoors two months after sustaining a number of accidents from a collision with a car that immediately opened a door in entrance of him in December.
The Olympic champion suffered fractures to his ribs, hand and shoulder blade, alongside dislocating his collarbone, which precipitated nerve harm in his shoulder, prolonging his restoration. This majorly derailed his preparations for the 2025 season and noticed him off the bike for over six weeks, solely getting again on the rollers halfway by January.
Lastly, he is getting again into the swing of issues, recording his first out of doors trip for the reason that incident on Strava this previous Saturday with 64km within the saddle close to Brussels, adopted up by one other 67km on Sunday.
Granted it is solely 4 hours of driving and 700 metres of elevation acquire and Evenepoel will not be pinning on a race quantity for a while, nonetheless, he’s lastly again on observe in February forward of his deliberate return on April 18 at De Brabantse Pijl.
“Again outdoors,” learn Evenepoel’s trip caption on Saturday. “Getting there very slowly however certainly.
“Get your self collectively and make the longer term shiny.”
If all goes to plan along with his return in spring, Evenepoel, now 25, will trip a full Ardennes Classics marketing campaign from the Amstel Gold Race to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, earlier than racing the Critérium du Dauphiné and turning his full focus to a different GC bid on the Tour de France.
He was third on debut on the Tour final season and can look to once more compete with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Group Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who will each get their 2025 seasons underway this month on the UAE Tour and Volta ao Algarve respectively.
With such a speedbump to his season, earlier than it even obtained began, Evenpoel had all eyes on the Tour even again in January, hopeful he can re-find the shape that noticed him take a maiden stage win and the perfect younger rider’s white jersey final July.
“I do know that sooner or later I’ll attain my outdated degree once more,” he instructed HLN in January. “And I hope that I might be at my best possible within the Tour.”
