Evenepoel opens up: '[Quitting the Tour] was one of the rawest, most vulnerable moments of my career. I broke and strangely enough, I’m proud of it'

'It’s okay to be human. Sometimes stepping back is the strongest thing you can do,' says the Belgian star

Remco Evenepoel at the 2025 Tour de France
(Image credit: Getty Images)

You could see it on his face.

From the first pedal strokes up the Tourmalet, the tension was there. In his eyes, in his posture. The white jersey didn’t shine quite so bright under the grey skies on stage 14 of the 2025 Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel’s minutes in this Tour were dwindling, even if he didn’t know it yet. Or maybe he did.

Four days later, the 25-year-old has broken his silence. In a reflective and heartfelt social media post, he calls that day “the rawest and most vulnerable moment of my career,” and reveals the deep physical struggles that brought him to that point.

It all started in December, when he collided with the open door of a van during a training ride and sustained significant injuries. While his competitors spent their winter months building strong foundations for the season ahead, Evenepoel was forced to focus on rehabilitation and recovery.

“I always felt like I was playing catch-up,” Evenepoel says. “I never quite felt like myself. But I kept believing, I didn’t want to give up on the dream.”

“We thought the time off during rehab had given me enough rest. But in reality, my body never truly had a break… I was running low before the Tour even started,” he admits.

Then came another blow. Just days before the Grand Départ, he crashed again. This time at the Belgian National Championships, where he sustained a fractured rib.

“Not the worst but definitely not ideal,” he says. But all these months of struggles meant that he “lined up for the hardest race in the world with a broken rib and tired body.”

“But still, I didn’t want to give up. I fought as hard as I possibly could,’ Evenepoel writes. “For you, my fans, I wanted to give every last bit of what I had left in me.”

“What was meant to be the highlight of my season turned into disappointment,” he says. But instead of frustration, what comes through is maturity and the perspective of a rider who has grown through adversity.

“That day became one of the rawest and most vulnerable moments of my career. I broke and strangely enough, I’m proud of it,” says Evenepoel.

“It takes strength to show that things don’t always go your way. That even when you want something deeply, sometimes your body has other plans. That moment, as hard as it was, showed that I’m human with highs and lows. Leaving the Tour was the hardest decision I’ve made in a long time. But it was the right one.”

Inspiring even when he’s down, Evenepoel leaves young riders with this message:

“It’s okay to stop. It’s okay to feel tired. It’s okay to be human. Sometimes stepping back is the strongest thing you can do.”

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Anne-Marije Rook
North American Editor

Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.

Originally from the Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon, she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a journalist for two decades, including 12 years in cycling.

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