Remco Evenepoel was the only one able to save the spring classics campaign and the Belgian didn't fail. Just like in 2022, he won Liege-Bastogne-Liege solo. An awaited victory, all the more expected after Tadej Pogacar crashed and retired at the beginning of the race.
The Doyenne, behind Ardennaise, has given some colours back to Soudal-Quick Step, non-existent or even decrepit in 2023 on the one-day races, beaten by UAE Team Emirates, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jumbo-Visma. The current trend is clear: the Wolfpack will now focus on stage races.
Roglic, main rival but weakened
Evenepoel can win on any terrain but he will probably do best in the Grand Tours. In the land of the Flahutes and the pedal crushers in the cobbled bergs, the Belgian wants to follow in the footsteps of the veterans who win the biggest stage races. Last September, he won the Vuelta by taking the leader's jersey from the sixth stage and never letting it go.
Forced to retire on stage 18 of his first Giro tour in 2021, the prodigy returns to Italian soil. His status has changed. From being a serious outsider, he has become the main contender for victory. His number one opponent is Primoz Roglic and he can rely on a team that is used to three weeks races.
10 years separate the two riders and that doesn't impress Evenepoel at all, despite the huge palmares of the Slovenian pioneer who beat him in March in the Tour of Catalonia. Besides talent and nerve, the Soudal-Quick Step leader seems to be helped by a surprise guest: COVID. Time trial world champion Tobias Foss and sherpa Robert Gesink are affected by the virus and are replaced by Rohan Dennis and Jos van Emden.
These last minute changes are in addition to the withdrawal of Wilco Kelderman after a crash in March. The last support of "Rogla" in the climbs should finally be Sepp Kuss. Apart from these changes, the three-time Vuelta winner (2019, 2020, 2021) can already count himself lucky that he will not be positive in the coming hours.
Hirt, not to be taken for granted
It's a transfer that didn't make a lot of noise but it's crucial for Evenepoel in the perspective of the conquest of the Giro this year and on the repositioning of the Wolfpack. Jan Hirt has been poached from Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert to accompany the world champion as far as possible with Mattia Cattaneo, probably a notch below the Czech rider, sixth in the 2022 edition with a stage win in Aprica.
With several riders dedicated to protection like Pieter Serry, Davide Ballerini or Louis Vervaeke, Evenepoel will have at his disposal elements that master the sometimes extreme conditions of the Italian race where the moments of respite are almost inexistent and the traps daily. This understanding of the race corresponds to the DNA of Soudal-Quick Step and the Giro can from time to time be like a succession of classics during three weeks.
The time trial can make or break everything
The 70 kilometres of time trials on the programme are an important advantage for an Evenepoel-Roglic summit duel. Nevertheless, this can have a double-edged effect for the riders who will either be annihilated because of the gap in the general classification or will be in off-road attacking mode precisely to reduce this deficit. This will lead to more nervousness in the peloton and also to a selection of the answers of the Belgian-Slovenian pair.
Evenepoel is a multi-faceted rider who has everything in him to win the second Grand Tour of his career. But the Italian style of racing doesn't allow any respite and everything can be turned around in a few moments or at the price of an anthology act. This is what makes the beauty of the Giro, which will never be a linear race. Given the man, it is perhaps the race that best suits the exuberance of the reigning world champion. And for his team, it is the ideal moment to confirm this desire and need to blossom in the Grand Tours.