After securing the first Grand Tour victory for Belgium since 1978 at the Vuelta a España, all eyes now turn to where Remco Evenepoel might plug into his Garmin for his next Grand Tour adventure.
If the expected Giro d’Italia route is anything to go by, then it may well be Italy for the Grande Partenza where the Belgian wonder kid heads next.
According to Belgian daily newspaper Het Laatse Niews and Wielerflits, the 2023 Giro d’Italia route is set to include a substantial amount of time trial kilometres over three separate stages meaning that the route will feature up to 70 kilometres of time trial racing.
Time trialling is Evenepoel’s bread and butter as he clearly demonstrated in Spain, storming to victory in Alicante on stage ten.
The Giro d’Italia course will not be officially unveiled until November.
According to Het Laatse Niews, the Belgian superstar had already suggested that the amount of time trial kilometres on offer at the Grand Tours would sway his decision making, and if the report is anything to go on then it’s likely the potential Giro route could sway his decision making along with that of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.
The 2022 edition of the Giro d’Italia featured just 26.6 time trial kilometres over the course of two separate stages. Stage two of this year’s race was a 9.2km time trial in Budapest, Hungary which was won by Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco). The second individual time trial was on the final stage within the city of Verona over a 17.4km course. Yates’ teammate Matteo Sobrero took that victory on the final day.
Little is currently known about the 2023 route although it is believed that the opening stage will feature an 18km individual time trial between Fossacesia and Ortona in the Abruzzo region home of Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo).
The Tour de France 2023 is due to begin in Bilbao, Spain and the full race route is expected to be announced in October.
One thing is for sure after Evenepoel’s antics in Spain, the competition will be stiff to get him to appear at either Grand Tour next year.
