Evenepoel doesn't want to become "Tour de Tietema or Average Rob," but: "Also want to see where the limit is on Youtube"

For a day without an INEOS rumor is a day not lived. On Friday, it was Alberto Contador who contributed to it on Spanish Eurosport by claiming that Evenepoel's transfer to the British team was set in stone. "Next question," was the telling answer from the Belgian when confronted with it by one of the journalists.

A British journalist latched onto to that, by asking how Evenepoel feels about all the rumors and statements. "I hope I can put that fuss aside for the Vuelta. If I have to listen to that shit for three weeks, it's going to be a long Vuelta. Sorry for that word, but I just hope it'll calm down a bit. I'd like to answer with my pedals, and I want to do that in the Vuelta again, but then I need to be able to focus from day one," he stated clearly.

At the World Championship time trial, that 'answering with the pedals' worked out quite nicely. "My form was good, although it was tough for someone just over sixty kilos to keep the bike straight," the Belgian laughed. "I was able to ride through a wall, and I've ticked something off again; now I'm focusing on the Grand Tours and stage races. I want to win everything, but that's not easy. Let me put it this way: I want to improve myself."

Since this week, we can also follow Evenepoel's path as he recently launched his YouTube channel. IDLProcycling.com watched the first video, and it was cool, which we complimented the new world champion on. "It's not the goal to become a big YouTube channel, like Tour de Tietema or Average Rob," the Belgian emphasizes his intentions.

"I mainly want to show things behind the scenes without sharing the results. A test day like we did on the track now is something you don't usually see, so we want to show that to the fans and everyone else," he refers to his first episode on the channel. "We did it like this with ‘a day at altitude training...’ and that kind of stuff. But of course, on YouTube, it's also about finding where my limits are. Like and subscribe, you know," Evenepoel says with a broad smile.

With the Vuelta in sight, there's not much time to celebrate for the Soudal Quick-Step leader. "I'm going to celebrate now with the team, then I'll fly home on Saturday. There I can spend some time with my family and my wife's family because I haven't seen them for a long time, and I won't see them for a long time either. Hopefully, we can have a nice meal," he adds, before talking about the last two weeks before the Tour of Spain. "I'm also heading to altitude training, a place I only return from when I'm about to ride the Vuelta. I'll be doing some specific training sessions, so the next two weeks might not be very enjoyable. It's definitely not a vacation."