Remco Evenepoel counts on two Dutchmen, but isn’t targeting overall victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné

Evenepoel was still finding his feet in last year's Dauphiné but appears to be getting closer to Tour form now. "I’m happy to be back in action with the team. I had a solid altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada and now I’m ready for the Dauphiné," said the double Olympic champion.

"I can’t say that I’m going there with any specific goals, as the most important thing will be to see how the form is," said the Belgian. "It goes without saying that I would like to be in the fight for a couple of good results, but the plan is to take it one stage at a time and see where this leads next week."

Sports director Tom Steels adds: "The course is very demanding, which isn’t a surprise. The time trial is going to be a nice test, although the differences won’t be big. The last stages will be the hardest of the race and will give us a good idea where we stand at the moment there."

"We’ll see how Remco is and we hope he can do a good time trial and be there on the climbs, but we aren’t thinking of going for the overall win," said the sports director of Soudal Quick-Step, who knows that Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, among others, are strong competitors at the start.

"Remco can count on a strong and balanced team, and we'll give our best to get some nice results," Steels concludes. Two Dutchmen, Pepijn Reinderink and Pascal Eenkhoorn, are part of Evenepoel's core team. Valentin Paret-Peintre, Max Schachmann, and Louis Vervaeke will support him on the climbs, while Casper Pedersen will be helping out on the flat.

Remco Evenepoel
Pascal Eenkhoorn
Valentin Paret-Peintre
Casper Pedersen
Pepijn Reinderink
Maximilian Schachmann
Louis Vervaeke