Remco Evenepoel finally pins on his number today in the Brabant Arrow and yesterday met the press, starting from the training accident last December: while he was cycling, he collided with a postal van, whose door was suddenly opened.

"For the second time in a few months, I fell on the same shoulder and this complicated things. And it was even more difficult than after the crash at Il Lombardia in 2020: back then it was sunny, I could go out even if I was in a wheelchair, this time we were in the middle of winter, everyone was busy and I... had a hard time".

In recent days, the Belgian wrote a message on Instagram in which he said he had even thought about ending his career: "The injuries I sustained were really serious, the surgery was very difficult. And I confess that I wondered: will this shoulder ever be 100% again? I wrote that message, the first one in months, because it's useless to wear a mask: my friends, my family, and my wife saw me during those days and especially saw me change in recent weeks".

"Even resuming training wasn't simple, I started on the rollers on February 1st, then returned to the road but my body struggled to respond. Fortunately, in the last two weeks in Sierra Nevada everything changed and I was able to dedicate myself to intensive training. I'm obviously not at peak form, but I'm here: whether it will be enough to compete with Pogačar or Pidcock I'll discover along the way, but I certainly want to work towards my two major summer goals, the Tour de France and the World Championships".

Then he returned to the difficult days: "I learned to pray, it's something I discovered over the last year. It's something I do with Oumi and we're proud to do it together. It's something everyone must do for themselves, so I can't judge what others do. For me it's a support, Islam helps me face life. It's something beautiful, so I like being able to share it with Oumi: she and I will continue to pray together".

Finally, a thought about Pogacar: "Beating him is difficult, but I'm here to try. I've been following him in recent race weeks, trying to learn something about his style. He's probably the best rider since Eddy Merckx, and from now on it's up to us rivals to challenge this position. I hope to get close to my best form at Liege. If I didn't believe I could beat Tadej, I wouldn't even start, so...".