As announced in recent days, today the Soudal-Quick Step team met with the press. The spotlight was on Remco Evenepoel, who explained his ambitions for this Tour de France that will start on July 5th.

"Have I closed the gap with Pogacar and Vingegaard? It's difficult to say and I don't want to repeat myself every week. I had a tough winter and this was really a problem for me. We must take things day by day."

On the fifth and thirteenth days, riders will face a time trial: the first will be very technical and suitable for specialists like Evenepoel, while the second will be a mountain time trial. "The second time trial is not a true time trial, but just a mountain finish. Everyone will do it at their own pace. While the one on the fifth day is a real time trial, but not so technical. This is why we participated in the Belgian time trial championship. It will be a great opportunity to win a stage and, who knows, to conquer the yellow jersey".

Evenepoel is clear about the Tour's start and his ambitions and hopes to be in good shape for the 21 days of racing and save energy in the first part of the race. "We must try to get through the first ten days without problems, in every aspect. The real Tour starts in the second week. We must be patient and stay together in the first ten days to avoid problems and then we'll see how things go".