Alberto Contador tips Remco Evenepoel for 'great season', praises decision to ride Giro d’Italia in 2023

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) has made a “good decision” to ride the Giro d’Italia in 2023 rather than the Tour de France, seven-time Grand Tour champion and Eurosport expert Alberto Contador has claimed. Evenepoel delivered a sensational maiden Grand Tour title at La Vuelta last year, fuelling excitement over a potential showdown with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) this summer. Ad However, he has opted to race for the maglia rosa instead in 2023 and will headline a stacked field alongside Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in May.

Volta a CatalunyaRoglic edges Evenepoel in Stage 1 drag race after nasty crash7 HOURS AGO “I think he is going to have a great season. I think it was a good decision to go to the Giro d’Italia this year and not go to the Tour de France just yet,” said Contador. “And in the future we will see whether he can rival Pogacar and Vingegaard on the Tour de France.

“Only time will tell, but with Evenepoel’s age, he still has a lot of margin for improvement. So I think we still need to give him a bit of time. “I’m sure he learnt a lot last year on the Vuelta a Espana.

He did have the odd bad day and that could help him analyse what he might have done wrong or what he could have done better.” The Belgian became the first rider in 40 years to win a Monument (at Liege-Bastogne-Liege), Grand Tour and World Championship road race in the same season in 2022. He won the UAE Tour in February and is currently competing against Roglic and Thomas at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, where he finished second behind the Slovenian on the opening stage. Asked what he wanted to see from Evenepoel at the Giro and beyond, Contador continued: “Who is