EVENEPOEL: “MY VICTORY AT BUKOVINA IS ONE OF MY NICEST MEMORIES”

Just over a month from the start of the Tour de Pologne, Remco Evenepoel has talked about his memories connected to the race that last year brought him his first success in a stage race on the World Tour calendar.

“The 2020 Tour de Pologne was a rollercoaster in terms of emotions for me and my team,” comments the talented rider of the Deceuninck – Quick-Step squad. “Fabio’s crash was a dire moment, but we reacted as a team. I wanted so much to dedicate a win to him. The morning before starting the Bukovina stage, I asked our Directeur Sportif to give me one of Fabio’s numbers. I felt it could be a special day. The victory and dedicating it to him was one of my nicest moments.”

Although Evenepoel will not line up at the 2021 Tour de Pologne, he has examined the route of the 78th edition of the race that will kick off on August 9.

“It is an interesting race course. On the second day, the finish in Przemysl will reveal the climbers in the peloton. It is a hard finish with two-digit gradients. Despite being a not-so-long ascent, some selection will occur but the gaps will be small. Stage no. four arriving at Bukovina Resort will be the queen stage, as always. The 160km stage will make it a nervous and fought-for race from the very start. The climbs are not very long but quite testing. And the weather conditions might play an important role. The overall standing will start to be more settled in Bukovina, but the Katowice time trial could be a game changer as the strong TT riders could overturn the general classification. Introducing a time trial will make the race open to a variety of scenarios until the finish and, in my view, it will render the race more balanced. Let’s hope it will remain in the race also for the future.”

Who will be the winner?

“It is hard to make any predictions now and I don’t like to give names. But a full-fledged rider who knows how to be strong in time trials will be the one. On such a racing course you can hardly bluff.”