Nine months ago, a glance down the top riders lining up for today's Tour de Romandie start in Switzerland would have left you with no doubt: Remco Evenepoel for the win.
But a lot has happened in that time – there was a major crash in December, after what was already a year of setbacks. So far his late start has yielded one win – albeit a minor one in the Belgian's world, at Brabantse Pijl – and a lacklustre showing at Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a race he has won twice.
As such, the Soudal-Quick Step rider has sought to play down expectations at this week's Swiss race.
"Normally, I start stage races with a lot of ambition for the general classification, but that is becoming a bit difficult now," Evenepoel told the pre-event press conference. "I will be very satisfied with a stage win, a good feeling, no real off-day and a good result in the classification. I mainly want to make progress."
The 25-year-old, who did not start racing this year until April 18, said he hoped to test his legs on Saturday's penultimate stage to the ski resort of Thyon 2000, a stage comprising over 4,000m of vertical ascent.
"The last climb is a pretty long effort – over 20 kilometres, so almost an hour of climbing," he said. "The summit is also at 2,000 metres, so it’s going to be a serious test for the whole peloton."
Evenepoel will be riding a golden Olympic champion's time trial bike for the first time in this race – in today's super-short 3.44km prologue, and also on Sunday's final stage, a time trial on the shores of Lake Geneva.
There's no doubt the Belgian will be going all-out for the win on that day and, he says, taking motivation from his new S-Works bike.
"That will be an important test," he said. "Time trials are always important to me. It will be the first time on my new golden time trial bike with my rainbow jersey, that gives motivation. And it is a nice time trial: a bit technical in the beginning, otherwise many straight lines, a climb without a dangerous descent. It will be a nice end to the week.”
As for today's dinky first stage, he declares it will be a "good test for my heart rate and my acceleration", but points out that repeatedly sprinting out of corners is not his forte.
"It is difficult to have ambitions in such a short time trial," he said. "It is always a bit of a lottery. The one who dares to throw himself into the bends the most usually wins."
The Belgian has admitted he considered retirement from bike racing after colliding with the open door of a Belgian postal vehicle in December. He was left with extensive injuries, with fractures to his ribs, hand and shoulder blade, lung contusions and torn ligaments.
He only began racing again this season in mid-April, at Brabantse Pijl.
Today's racing begins at 15:13 CET, with Evenepoel setting off at 16:50. Other GC contenders include Joāo Almeida (UAE-Team Emirates-XRG), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Alexandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
