Remco Evenepoel has said while he always believed in his climbing abilities the “outside world” hadn’t seen what he could do against top climbers until last week’s Vuelta a Burgos.
However, last week in Spain he dropped riders like Ivan Sosa and Richard Carapaz (Team Ineos) as well as Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) to win stage 3 and take the overall lead.
And on the final stage, which also featured a summit finish, he defended his lead, though Sosa was too strong for him on the final climb and took the stage victory.
Speaking to Belgian media
outlet Sporza about last week’s race and about the Tour of Poland, which he
starts tomorrow, Evenepoel said the Vuelta a Burgos had shown the cycling world
he could climb with the best riders.
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“Last week was a big test
against the real climbers. Burgos was a bigger test to see what my level is
than here in Poland," he said in his interview on the eve the Polish race.
"I always believed in my climbing abilities. It was still not really clear to the outside world how well I could compete with the top climbers. Now it is quite clear that I can ride uphill with the best."
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Evenepoel added in the absence of major climbs or a TT in Poland, a lot of riders could win the race and taking overall victory would be very hard.
"The third and fourth stages can be compared to the
Ardennes,” he said of the repeated short and sharp climbs on Friday and
Saturday.
“Those days you have to be alert for the general
classification. But without a time trial and without real cols, the differences
will be small.
"I expect that 20 or 30 riders will be able to win
here. Who are my competitors then? Schachmann and Fuglsang are also
participating and they have a good chance," he said of a field that also
includes Eddie Dunbar and his Team Ineos team mate Carapaz.
"Everyone has to be on their limit, but it is a pity
that there is no time trial. However, this race remains 100 percent preparation
for the Tour of Lombardy,” Evenepoel added of the Italian monument on Saturday
week.
While winning in Poland was not “a must”, if the chance came he would take it. He also accepted that he was one of the favourites for the Giro d’Italia irrespective of the final result in Poland.
Evenepoel has won every
stage race he has ridden so far this year; Vuelta a San Juan (2.Pro), Volta
ao Algarve (2.Pro) and Vuelta a Burgos (2.Pro), taking a total of four stages
across those events.
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