Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar favourites but Remco Evenepoel ‘can win’ Tour de France, says Christian Prudhomme
Remco Evenepoel could “turn things upside down” on his debut at the Tour de France in 2024, believes race director Christian Prudhomme.
If he does he will be stepping into the domain of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who have both won the Tour twice over the last four years.
But Prudhomme expects Evenepoel to “leave his mark” when he goes up against the vaunted duo, who have sparred so memorably at the Tour over the past three editions.
“But Evenepoel does have that X-factor, that unexpected and brilliant thing. He can suddenly turn things upside down.
“He can win. But what is certain is that he will leave his mark on the race and, therefore, also on the overall victory.”
‘Oh no!’ – Motorbikes impede Pogacar, foils attack on Vingegaard
Evenepoel won the Vuelta a Espana in 2022 along with the road race at the World Championships.
Prudhomme was impressed with how Evenepoel responded at the Vuelta after having a day when his “tank was empty”.
“It struck me how he was able to bounce back after a setback,” he said.
“I thought he would give up, but we saw the opposite. He made a spectacle of it with his attacks.”
The 2024 Tour de France will finish outside of Paris for the first time due to the staging of the Olympic Games.
The climactic Stage 21 will be a 34km individual time trial from Monaco to Nice on the south coast.
Evenepoel completes hat-trick of wins in Vuelta with solo victory on Stage 18, Kuss retains red
The hotly-anticipated Grand Depart takes place in Florence, Italy, where the team presentation takes place, along with the start of Stage 1 on June 29.
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