PARIS – Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel is fully focused and will make his debut at the Tour de France in 2024, his Soudal Quick-Step team have said.

Evenepoel, who won the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, claimed the road time trial title at the World Championships in 2023.

The 23-year-old was also forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia while wearing the overall leader’s jersey due to a positive Covid-19 test.

“Last year was a very special one, so I can be proud of how things went. But all that happened in 2023 is in the past and my focus is on this year. I will race a lot in France in the coming weeks and I’m hoping for some more good results and a nice debut in Le Tour,” Evenepoel said on Jan 9.

The Belgian was the first cyclist from his country to win the world time trial gold, doing so in Scotland last August, following a silver in 2019 and a bronze in 2021. He also won road race gold at the World Championships in 2022.

Evenepoel will begin his campaign at the Figueira Champions Classic in Portugal in February.

He will then clash with Primoz Roglic at Paris-Nice in March before taking on all three of the Ardennes Classics in April. After that, his focus shifts to June’s Criterium du Dauphine before embarking on the Tour de France and the Olympic Games in Paris.

“I am quite satisfied with my programme. It has been a search for a well-balanced programme in which I can start the Ardennes Classics with fresh legs,” Evenepoel told VTM News.

On the Tour de France which starts on June 29, he added: “I put guys like (Jonas) Vingegaard, (Tadej) Pogacar and Roglic one step higher than myself but, purely for ourselves, we know what is in the body and what can come out.

“It’s just time to ride the Tour, I will be 24 in two weeks. Every year you skip the Tour, there is one less. I am now in my sixth year as a professional and it is time to discover the Tour. Mentally and physically, I am ready.” REUTERS