World Champion Remco Evenepoel says his preparation for a shot at Giro d’Italia success this May is firmly on track after winning the UAE Tour.
The Soudal-Quick Step man wrapped up a successful week for the Belgian team in the Emirates, taking the overall victory after a sterling performance on the Jebel Hafeet climb on Sunday.
Evenepoel was only beaten by Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) on the final stage, finishing 10 seconds down on the Briton, but it was still enough to clinch the overall win.
Evenepoel and Yates were largely inseparable until the latter delivered a powerful attack with three kilometres left to race which the Belgian was unable to answer. As Evenepoel pointed out post-stage, the gap between him and Yates was far from massive and a telling sign as the Belgian prepares for the Giro.
“I knew Adam has been in altitude all winter, so you know he’s going to fly uphill. But 10 seconds is only a small margin, so maybe I underestimated myself earlier this week,” Evenepoel said. “But that’s only a good sign for the Giro.”
“If you know Adam’s numbers, you can only be satisfied, I think they never went up this climb faster than today,”
Evenepoel’s second place on the Jebel Jais climb four days previously placed him in the overall lead in the UAE, and his performance on Sunday was enough to wrap up the win.
The Belgian explained that the form is clearly there, although he explained that there was still plenty of work to be done in preparation for his goals in May.
“I think so. As I said, without altitude and specific work, I think a lot more improvement is possible, so all good for now. I’m happy. Also, the team I saw they are good but not yet at the top," he said.
“We’ll now go to altitude for the first time and, yeah, start the real specific work towards the Giro. But it’s good to go to do that with a great result here in the UAE, which is a very important race for us as GC riders, so I can be pleased and proud.”
After a stint at altitude, next up for the World Champion is the Volta a Catalunya as the road to the Giro continues.
