Remco’s return to racing has been sidelined as his hip injury has flared up and he was forced to rest for a month.
By Zack Morris
3 weeks ago we received information that Remco Evenepoel had to stop training and the team had to assess whether or not the Belgian GC hopeful would be able to race in this year’s Giro d’Italia. Out of respect for the Belgian, we didn’t publish the news until he was ready to make the announcement on his own. This may come as a surprise for many in the cycling world, but for the team management, they almost saw it coming.
About a month ago one of the team directors told a reporter of ours in Spain that Remco was doing too much, and that he wasn’t allowing his body enough time to heal. We all saw the form Remco was coming into, as he looked leaner than we had ever seen him and we were sad to hear just a few days later that Remco was once again sidelined from training.
While there is no clear return date for Remco at this time, he did announce today on social media that he would be racing the 2021 Giro d’Italia. This will be Evenepoel first grand tour appearance, and we are all eagerly awaiting to see the dynamic riding abilities of Remco put to the test against the best GC riders in the world.
Below you can check out the statement Remco gave the press yesterday.
“I have a small surprise for you guys. There were some small difficulties, all part of the rehab process. To be honest, we don’t know yet when I’ll be able to restart because we slowed the comeback down a bit to give my body time to get ready to be 100 percent. I had some small problems and didn’t feel comfortable on the bike, so I didn’t know when and where I’ll be ready to restart,” Remco said yesterday in Calpe
“I’m not a doctor so I don’t know the specific words but it’s just a bit of pain in the area where the fractures were so sitting down on a saddle for a few hours is still hard. It needs to be fixed before being 100 per cent on a bike.”
“We don’t know. The body will give the answers, so we will see. We stepped off the bike for a few weeks now already. I’m still able to have some cardio training like walking and swimming. I’m not riding with the boys so it’s an individual program for now. But it’s all going well. I’m not behind schedule because from the first day we said we were trying to be 100 percent on the bike in February, so we’re not behind. Maybe we were a bit ahead of schedule too fast, so no panic. We are aiming to be ready for the Giro of course. I still cannot say when and where I’ll restart or be able to race but we’re aiming to finally go to the Giro.”