Cycling star Evenepoel targets June return from crash ahead of Tour de France and Paris Olympics
BRUSSELS (AP) — Two weeks after crashing heavily in Spain, two-time world champion Remco Evenepoel said on Friday he’s on track to race again in June ahead of the Tour de France and Paris Olympics.
The Belgian needed surgery after breaking a collar bone and shoulder blade in a crash while descending in the Tour of Basque Country.
Evenepoel will train at high altitude before a planned return to racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné in France from June 2-9 or the week after at the Tour de Suisse, he said in an interview broadcast by his team Soudal–Quick-Step.
He won the worlds time trial last year and the road race in 2022, and should target both Olympic events on the streets of Paris on back-to-back Saturdays — July 27 and Aug. 3. First, he will make his Tour de France debut on June 29.
“It’s going to be something special. Especially the Tour,” Evenepoel said. “It makes it a bit easier to do Tour-Olympics because it’s in the same country, not too far like it was three years ago to go to Tokyo. That was more difficult for a lot of guys.”