Remco Evenepoel obliterates Tenerife's Mount Teide Strava KOM
Reigning World Champion currently in altitude training before next week's Volta a Catalunya
Remco Evenepoel has taken one of the most sought after Strava KOM’s on Tenerife, the Chio to Teide segment on the island’s Mount Teide climb.
The reigning World Champion posted a record time on the segment of 56:25 to take the crown. Other notable professional racers to feature in the all-time top ten are Chris Froome, Dylan van Baarle and Pavel Sivakov.
Evenepoel bested the time of Jonas Hjorth, a rider who until the end of last year was riding with the Bahrain Victorious academy squad.
The Norwegian set a time of 58:21 in 2020 that the Belgian has now bettered by nearly two minutes.
Froome set a time of 59:20 in May 2019 (now ranked fourth best), a few months before his life-threatening crash at the Criterium du Dauphine, which Evenepoel has now smashed by nearly three minutes.
The KOM came on a 165.27 kilometre training ride that the Belgian shared earlier today, featuring more than 4,000 metres of elevation gain in the Teide National Park. Evenepoel is currently on the island for an altitude training camp as he builds for goals later in the season.
After winning the UAE Tour in February, the Soudal Quick-Step rider is next set to race at the Volta a Catalunya which begins next week. It will be the first time Evenepoel will face off against Primož Roglič in 2023, before the duo look to fight it out for the Giro d’Italia title in May.
Tenerife and Mount Teide have long played host to a raft of WorldTour professionals, looking to cram in some high-intensity altitude training before competing at all three of the Grand Tours.
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Sir Bradley Wiggins famously stayed at the Parador Hotel at the summit of Mount Teide in 2011.
Chris Froome and Team Sky also regularly stayed on the mountain in the past, including when Froome previously set a record time on the mountain.
Despite it not being the highest road in Europe, Teide is the longest continuous ascent as it’s possible to begin the climb from sea level. In just 35 kilometres, riders can rapidly climb from zero to 2,100 metres of elevation continuously, mainly due to the climb's lack of cambered hairpin bends.
All of this combined makes it the ideal destination for professional riders looking to accumulate as much climbing as possible into a training programme.
Evenepoel has used Teide before for altitude training, particularly in the winter period before he then went on to win the Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour.
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Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine.
He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders.
When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast.
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