Remco Evenepoel has spoken about his high-speed crash at Itzulia Basque Country, revealing he’ll journey a motorcycle indoors for the primary time subsequent week and that the Tour de France and Paris Olympics stay his main targets for 2024.
Speaking on the Soudal Quick Step workforce podcast, Evenepoel revealed that he crashed at 81kph on the descent, dropping management of his bike after a bump within the highway.
He suffered a fractured collarbone and cracked shoulder blade however believes he was lucky in comparison with Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, who spent 12 days in hospital and suffered a punctured lung, or Jay Vine, who suffered neck vertebra fractures.
Evenepoel has spent his time since along with his household and spouse Oumi, consuming ice-cream, recovering and even watching some bike racing. He will get again to work shortly and is already enthusiastic about the Tour de France and the Olympics.
“I can’t complain. Every day I really feel that the physique is enhancing and that the ache is getting much less and fewer,” Evenepoel mentioned.
Evenepoel rushed his return after fracturing his hip at Il Lombardia in 2020 and was compelled to take additional outing. He is aware of that relaxation and restoration is necessary.
“I’m fairly relaxed and I’m attempting to take pleasure in issues, it is form of my mid-season break. I hope after the weekend, I can begin to construct up once more, on the bike, off the bike and get again into the professional biking life,” he mentioned.
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“I did some physio work and a few simple gymnasium work simply to maintain the physique shifting. I can’t journey outdoors but, particularly with the Belgian climate, so I’m going to strive the rollers quickly.”
The Itzulia Basque Country crash sparked an enormous debate about race security, with completely different folks suggesting completely different causes for the crash.
Evenepoel gave his view on what occurred.
“If you look intently on the motion of my bike, you may see that I took the mistaken line, that it was on the bumpy facet of the highway and I simply did not have management of my bike anymore,” he mentioned.
“Then I simply hit the bumps and I did not have management of my bike. I checked my file, we had been going at 81kph within the nook. In gradual movement, all of it appears to be like simple to manage however then once you see the helicopter photographs, you actually see how briskly I went into the forest and onto the grass.
“Afterwards it is at all times simple to say that I ought to have been capable of stick with it on the nook however every little thing was so fast and so quick that earlier than I knew it, I used to be sitting up and holding my shoulder.
“I’m simply blissful that each one the riders are doing okay, if we will say that. My accidents are literally minor accidents in comparison with another guys.”
Evenepol admitted it is going to be troublesome to look at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on tv after successful the race for the final two years. La Doyenne was once more a significant purpose however he’s already seeking to making his Tour and making an attempt to win a gold medal within the time trial and highway race on the Paris Olympics.
“I’m fortunate that with my accidents, every little thing is kind of secure, I haven’t misplaced an excessive amount of health and that I can restart fairly rapidly. That is a little bit of luck I had within the dangerous luck,” he defined.
“I do know I nonetheless have quite a lot of work to do, I want to enhance my type fairly a bit however I felt good at Paris-Nice after which Basque, I felt I used to be on schedule. In the weeks to come back, it’s going to be the identical altitude camp, then every little thing will rely upon my type and I’ll select between the Criterium du Dauphine or the Tour de Suisse. Then it is time for the Tour already, so it should come fairly quick.”