Exclusive: Alberto Contador tips Remco Evenepoel for 'great season', praises decision to ride Giro d’Italia in 2023

Updated 21/03/2023 at 10:35 GMT

Two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador predicts Remco Evenepoel will have a “great season” as the Belgian hotshot bids to win a second Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia in May. Evenepoel is one of the brightest riders in the peloton, having won La Vuelta, world road race gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege during a sensational 2022. He will go up against Primoz Roglic at the Giro.

Roglic sees off Evenepoel in uphill sprint on Stage 1

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has made a “good decision” to ride the Giro d’Italia in 2023 rather than the Tour de France, seven-time Grand Tour champion and Eurosport expert Alberto Contador has said.

Evenepoel, currently in action at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, delivered a sensational maiden Grand Tour title at La Vuelta last year, fuelling excitement over a potential showdown with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) this summer.

However, he has opted to race for the maglia rosa instead in 2023 and will headline a stacked field alongside Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in May.

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“I think he is going to have a great season. I think it was a good decision to go to the Giro d’Italia this year and not go to the Tour de France just yet,” Contador told Eurosport.

“And in the future we will see whether he can rival Pogacar and Vingegaard on the Tour de France.

“Only time will tell, but with Evenepoel’s age, he still has a lot of margin for improvement. So I think we still need to give him a bit of time.

“I’m sure he learnt a lot last year on the Vuelta a Espana. He did have the odd bad day and that could help him analyse what he might have done wrong or what he could have done better.”

The Belgian became the first rider in 40 years to win a Monument (at Liege-Bastogne-Liege), Grand Tour and World Championship road race in the same season in 2022.

He won the UAE Tour in February and is currently competing against Roglic and Thomas at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, where he finished second behind the Slovenian on the opening stage.

Asked what he wanted to see from Evenepoel at the Giro and beyond, Contador continued: “Who is Remco Evenepoel? Remco Evenepoel is a rider that is capable of attacking on the flat and putting the whole peloton in check, and winning in style.

“He is capable of attacking on a stage on the Giro and riding solo to win in style.

“He will carry on flying in the time trials and what I am also eager to see is how he does on the climbs at the Giro. They are climbs with really steep gradients so let's see how he deals with those situations.

“And for the rest of the season, the same thing. Let him carry on riding crazy. He really goes for it and you don’t know whether what he has done will work out or not because he has attacked so far from the finish line.

“But these things keep us glued to the television screen and keep us enjoying cycling.”

This year’s Giro is likely to favour Evenepoel with three individual time trials on the menu, including a potentially decisive penultimate stage ITT that finishes with a bruising climb to Monte Lussari.

The race kicks off on May 6.

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