Après avoir participé à Paris-Nice au mois de mars, Remco Evenepoel va donc découvrir l'autre grande épreuves par étapes d'une semaine disputée en France. À quatre semaines du Grand Départ du Tour de France, ce sera l'occasion pour l'ancien champion du monde de faire des kilomètres sur des routes françaises qu'il a eu très peu l'occasion de pratiquer en course, mais aussi de voir où il en est, lui qui n'a plus couru depuis le 4 avril dernier et ses fractures d'une clavicule et d'une omoplate subies sur le Tour du Pays basque. Présent en visio-conférence de presse ce samedi après-midi à la veille du départ du Dauphiné, le Belge de la Soudal Quick-Step s'est à nouveau montré très prudent sur son niveau pour la semaine à venir, confirmant qu'il n'avait "aucune attente" en terme de résultat et qu'il verrait au jour le jour.
Video : @soudalquickstep
Video : @soudalquickstep
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00:00 Est-ce que la forme qu'il a montrée sur le giro vous fait penser, dans ton équipe et
00:11 toi spécialement, que ce serait un bon allié pour l'avoir sur le Tour de France cette année ?
00:16 Oui, Julien, je pense que son giro a été exceptionnel. Il a fait un très très bon giro.
00:23 Je pense que ça fait longtemps qu'on n'a plus vu rouler sur ce niveau-là,
00:27 donc vraiment heureux de le voir comme ça, de le voir prendre du plaisir, de faire des résultats.
00:33 Puis je pense que c'est vraiment sa décision s'il veut participer au Tour de France ou pas.
00:41 Je pense qu'il est professionnel et adulte assez pour savoir ce qu'il veut lui-même.
00:46 Je ne vais pas l'obliger de venir. Je pense que, comme je viens de le dire,
00:52 il est assez adulte pour faire les choix dans sa vie lui-même. Je vais lui respecter ses choix.
00:59 C'est Julien qui va choisir.
01:03 Est-ce que tu nous dis aujourd'hui, est-ce que c'est vraiment par prudence
01:08 ou est-ce qu'on peut quand même s'attendre à ce que tu fasses au moins aussi bien,
01:14 voire mieux que sur Paris-Nice ?
01:15 J'ai vraiment souffert au stage d'altitude. Je n'ai pas vraiment trouvé un bon niveau.
01:20 Je pense que je vais devoir être patient et passer les étapes jour par jour.
01:28 Et s'il y a un bon résultat, tant mieux. S'il n'y a pas de résultat, c'est comme ça.
01:32 Il faut continuer à travailler dessus. J'espère vraiment évoluer dans la course,
01:38 de trouver un meilleur niveau chaque jour.
01:40 Et puis s'il y aura un bon résultat, je pense que ça va sentir comme une victoire.
01:48 Mais ce n'est pas que je vais aller chercher la victoire d'étape comme je l'ai fait à Paris-Nice,
01:53 par me donner à fond. Et vraiment, j'ai été dans les attaques.
01:57 Donc, comme je viens de dire, jour par jour.
02:02 Et avoir la patience, ça va être important pour moi.
02:05 Concernant l'équipe qui t'entourera autour de France,
02:09 à quel point est-ce que tu es en contact avec le staff pour choisir les coureurs ?
02:12 On sait, tu as parlé de Julien, que tu aimerais bien que Julien soit avec toi.
02:16 Tu as dit que ce serait sa décision. Qu'en est-il des autres ?
02:18 On sait que la politique de Patrick Lefebvre, c'est de faire confiance à la forme du moment.
02:22 À quel point est-ce que tu es impliqué dans cette décision avec le staff ?
02:27 Pour le moment, pas beaucoup, parce que j'ai eu assez de soucis moi-même,
02:31 avec la blessure, avec le rétablissement et reprendre les entraînements.
02:37 Donc, c'est clair que je ne me suis pas mélangé trop dans les sélections,
02:44 ce que je ne fais jamais. Je donne juste un peu mes idées,
02:48 les conseils, mais c'est toujours l'équipe qui choisit.
02:52 Ce sont les coureurs qui choisissent, qui sont prêts ou pas.
02:56 Pour le moment, je n'ai pas eu beaucoup de contact avec le staff.
02:59 Je pense qu'après cette semaine et après le Tour de Suisse,
03:02 il y aura à nouveau des contacts.
03:03 Et je pense qu'après le Tour de Suisse, la sélection définitive sera lancée vers vous.
03:12 Il faut être encore un petit peu patient parce que je ne sais pas trop moi non plus.
03:17 On dit souvent, et ça se vérifie chaque année,
03:20 encore l'année passée entre Jonas et Tadej,
03:23 que la dernière semaine du Tour est la plus importante,
03:26 que c'est là qu'il faut avoir le pic de forme absolu.
03:28 Est-ce que tes propos très prudents que tu tiens ici depuis un quart d'heure
03:32 justifient ou sont un peu liés à cette vérité ?
03:37 Oui, peut-être.
03:39 Je pense que, déjà dans ma tête,
03:43 je sais que les derniers cinq jours dans le Tour de France vont être hyper importants.
03:48 Dans le Tour de France, chaque étape est importante.
03:52 Mais je pense que les derniers cinq jours, ça part pour soi.
03:58 C'est chaque jour, étape de montée.
04:02 Et puis le compte la monte dans la dernière étape.
04:05 Donc c'est vraiment là où est le point lourd du Tour de France.
04:09 C'est pour ça qu'on a la patience et que je suis patient aussi
04:14 pour ne pas chercher à trouver la meilleure forme,
04:20 déjà aujourd'hui ou la semaine prochaine.
04:22 Mais espérer que je la trouve dans le Tour de France et plus vers la fin.
04:29 Je pense que c'est vrai qu'on a un peu les idées dans la tête
04:34 pour avoir la pic de forme dans le Tour de France
04:37 et pas déjà ici au Dauphiné.
04:39 Mais on va vite connaître les réponses.
04:45 S'il y a encore beaucoup de travail, ça va être trop tard, je pense.
04:48 Mais si on est sur la bonne piste, sur la bonne route,
04:50 je pense que c'est déjà une bonne réponse pour la forme envers le Tour de France.
04:56 Donc c'est comme j'ai déjà dit quelques fois, la patience.
05:00 Et puis croyez en soi, en moi-même.
05:06 C'est aussi une évolution pas de long terme,
05:11 mais de quelques semaines, de quelques mois, jour par jour.
05:17 - Long time not seen. I have a question.
05:20 What is for you the personal target of this week?
05:25 When do you be happy when you are at Plateau de Glière?
05:30 What do you want for yourself?
05:33 - Honestly, no targets this week.
05:38 Just get into the race rhythm again.
05:43 See where the shape is at for the moment.
05:45 But no specific targets in terms of results or expectations.
05:52 So day by day.
05:54 And I think we have two guys in good shape here with Elon and Landa.
06:00 And if I have the chance, I will try to support them as much as possible.
06:05 But for myself, there is no big expectations.
06:09 Just get into the rhythm again and try to get out of this race in a better shape.
06:14 Then I will get into it.
06:18 Then it will be a successful week for me.
06:21 - Remco, can you just talk a little bit about the route this week
06:24 and where you see the time being won or lost?
06:29 Obviously, we have three big stages at the weekend.
06:32 But there are only two stages where we have the three-kilometer rule.
06:35 Does that mean that time could be won or lost on the other stages as well?
06:41 - I think I will have to disappoint you because I didn't look at the route at all.
06:46 - Oh, God!
06:50 - I only know that this fourth stage is a time trial and the last days are going to be hard.
06:54 But I didn't check the specific routes, to be honest.
06:59 So that's, I think, a good example of what expectations I have at the start.
07:06 So I have to apologize to you.
07:10 - Why did you keep this calm and not try to rush to get back on your bike,
07:17 which every rider tries to do?
07:21 But apparently you found it necessary to wait until you felt OK.
07:28 - Yeah, honestly, I mean, maybe the injuries weren't the biggest ones
07:33 with the collarbone and the scapula.
07:34 But I have to say that the impact of the crash at a high speed
07:39 and quite a long slide over the grass had quite a big impact on my body.
07:47 Also the surgery, first time under Narcos.
07:51 So for me, it was quite a big impact overall, let's say.
07:56 And just, yeah, my shoulder, my muscles, everything was quite damaged.
08:02 So I have to say that I really needed that time because I think the day I started outside
08:09 is really the first day that I felt ready for it.
08:11 So I think also with the experience of my Lombardia crash in the past,
08:19 where we rushed things maybe a bit too much,
08:23 I wanted to calm things down and really never skip any step of the stairway, let's say.
08:31 So just really day by day, step by step.
08:35 And I think it was a good decision to do it that way,
08:38 because in the end, still the main goal of the season is the Tour de France
08:44 and it only starts in a small month and it ends in only seven weeks.
08:51 So there's still a long way till the end of the Tour.
08:55 So that's why we didn't rush anything with the bigger goal in mind
09:00 and always paying attention to not get in extreme fatigue or rush myself too much.
09:09 So maybe it was not the best approach to get into this race,
09:13 but of course I think and I hope it will be a better approach or the best approach to go to the Tour.
09:19 After a big crash at the beginning of April,
09:24 are there remainders of that in the way that maybe you will try to avoid risks?
09:32 Or is there anything left of that crash in your head,
09:36 according to danger and how to deal with it?
09:41 Well, I hope not.
09:42 I think the first days in Sierra Nevada, it was still a bit of, let's say, stiff descending.
09:50 Not feeling super comfortable on the bike, but I think every day it got better and better.
09:55 And I think I'm gone of the scared feelings.
09:58 So that's good.
10:01 And then, yeah, I mean, the injuries are still a bit uncomfortable sometimes,
10:06 especially in the omoplates.
10:09 It's still a bit, in the scapula, it's still a bit strange sometimes,
10:14 especially on a TT bike.
10:16 There's a lot of pressure coming onto my shoulder.
10:18 So there it's a bit strange.
10:23 But I think it should be good enough to race and also good enough to take risks again.
10:31 So, yeah, we will see day by day, like I said.
10:33 But of course, if my body wouldn't have been good enough to race,
10:37 I would not have been at the start.
10:38 So I think my body is good enough to race.
10:41 But the shape will be another story probably.
10:44 - There's a chance that Jonas Vingegaard will race the Tour de France,
10:48 not having done any preparation races.
10:51 I was just wondering, was that an option that you considered
10:54 and how would you have felt about that?
10:58 - I think in my situation, it was never going to be the case.
11:04 The only thing that could have changed was that I was going to do a longer training preparation
11:10 and then ride the Tour de Suisse.
11:12 So I think I never had the option to not race or I never wanted that option.
11:22 So I think for me it was the best to still have a race because, yeah, also before,
11:31 I mean, until Basque, I didn't race that much.
11:33 So I needed a race for sure.
11:37 And if my shape and my feeling was not going to be good enough,
11:42 then I was going to do Tour de Suisse.
11:43 But I think, yeah, the answer is given because I'm here at the start of Dauphine.
11:49 So yeah, I think the feeling is good enough to race here.
11:55 So that's positive.
11:57 That's a good evolution.
12:00 - How important is it for you to ride a time trial at that stage in your preparation for the Tour?
12:07 - Yeah, I think it's going to be an important one to see how the pressure on the shoulder feels,
12:12 to see if I can handle the pressure for a long time.
12:15 Because I think Klaas or Dries told me that the TT is not super technical,
12:21 especially in the first part of the race.
12:22 So it will be a lot of position work.
12:28 And I think it's going to be a good test to see how the shoulder reacts,
12:33 to force the muscles to get really narrow in the shoulder.
12:36 So I think it's going to be a good step in,
12:41 I'm not going to call it a rehab anymore,
12:42 but a next step into my upcoming shape or growing shape towards the Tour.
12:48 So yeah, it's going to be a good test.
12:52 And yeah, we will see about the legs and the results.
12:56 But I think my feeling in day by day will be the most important for this week
13:00 and not necessarily the results.
13:04 - So it's an unusual situation with yourself and Primoz and Jonas all crashing in the early part of May.
13:12 Going and seeing Thaddei Pogacar dominating the Giro d'Italia in the way that he did.
13:20 What do you think the dynamic is going to be like at the Tour de France?
13:24 - Good question.
13:29 I think all pressure will be on Team UAE for sure.
13:34 If you see how Thaddei was racing in a very impressive way in the Giro,
13:41 then with all their co-leaders coming in their team as well on the Tour,
13:45 I think they have the men to beat and they are the team to beat.
13:49 And next to that is Jonas, of course,
13:52 because Jonas is the back-to-back Tour de France champion.
13:55 So, yeah, I think, yeah, especially for myself and for my team,
14:03 there's no big pressure.
14:05 I think all the pressure is on the other teams and yeah, we will have to try to follow.
14:10 I think that's the...
14:13 If he can follow Thaddei one day, I think it's going to be like a victory.
14:16 But of course, yeah, we'll have to see that maybe he's already going to attack first day,
14:21 win the stage with five minutes and then the GC is over again.
14:24 So, I mean, it's a special guy.
14:27 It's the best rider in the world.
14:30 So you never know with him.
14:31 And yeah, it's going to be a process and also a big question for everybody,
14:38 how he's going to be recovered after the Giro.
14:40 But I think, yeah, he did a great race and he will be ready for the Tour.
14:45 That's for sure.
14:45 So it wouldn't surprise me if he wins the Tour de France after winning the Giro.
14:49 So yeah, I think that's a bit the answer to the question.
14:54 Just asking about the Giro, Remco, and if you watched that race,
14:59 what did you take away from Pogacar's performance there?
15:03 Because it sounds like you're saying he was that dominant,
15:06 that he can do a similar thing in the Tour de France.
15:08 Or is it different in the Tour de France?
15:10 Well, I hope he will not do it in the Tour.
15:12 That would be better for us.
15:14 But of course, yeah, it's a special guy, the biggest talent in the bunch,
15:21 the best rider of the past few years.
15:23 So if there's a guy that can do it, it's going to be Poggy.
15:26 So yeah, it was actually very impressive to watch, amazing to watch,
15:32 sometimes boring to watch as well, because the race was done with 60k to go.
15:36 So I mean, not 60k, but just in a way of speaking.
15:41 So yeah, I mean, it's going to be a big question mark for everybody
15:46 to see how he will go in the Tour.
15:47 But like I said, if there's one guy that can do it, it's going to be him.
15:50 So really looking forward to meeting him in the Tour
15:53 and curious to see how he will develop over the next month.
15:57 So yeah, I think he's professional enough to know what to do and his team as well.
16:03 So it wouldn't surprise me if he's there already from day one till day 21 in the Tour as well.
16:08 So yeah, if there's one guy that can do the double, it's going to be him, I think.
16:13 Primoz Oglic is also coming in.
16:17 Of all of us guys, you know him best.
16:20 I wonder how you look at what you and Primoz have going on for the recent years.
16:26 How would you describe it?
16:28 It's rivalry probably, but in a good way.
16:31 I wonder how you would describe him
16:35 and your relationship between the two of you on the bike.
16:40 I think Primoz is one of the big champions in the bunch,
16:46 I mean, in modern cycling.
16:48 So all the results he has achieved and the Palmarès he has built up over the years,
16:57 I think it's very impressive and it's something that every rider can dream of.
17:01 So I think it's not necessarily a rivalry between us
17:08 because it's somebody I look up to and that I have as an idol.
17:12 So yeah, it's just, I mean, it's a champion
17:17 and champions are always a bit special in their own ways.
17:21 They all have their own ideas, their own approaches to races, their own tactics.
17:25 So I think it's fair to say that Primoz is also one of those champions
17:31 that likes to approach things in his own way.
17:33 And I think we only have to respect that and just praise him for his results, for his career.
17:42 And yeah, like I said, it's somebody that I look up to
17:45 and that I always like to race with because it's somebody that I learn a lot from,
17:52 especially in tactics and strange race situations.
17:58 So I think it's perfect that he's here again to learn from him
18:02 and to see how he goes one month ahead of the Tour.
18:05 So yeah, looking forward to it again.
18:08 [Musique]