Remco Evenepoel is back in training as he begins preparation for the Tour de France, with the Belgian posting a ride titled 'Start the countdown' to Strava on Sunday.
The Belgian finished off his spring block of racing at the Ardennes Classics last month, winning Amstel Gold Race and taking third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. However, he won't race again until the Tour, which kicks off in Barcelona on July 4.
June's Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was set to be his main warmup for the Tour, but Evenepoel's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team recently announced that he'll skip the race. Instead, training camps and Tour de France route recons are on the menu before July.
Now, as part of his training for the Tour, where he'll co-lead Red Bull with Florian Lipowitz, Evenepoel has headed to the Spanish mountain range, Sierra Nevada, for an altitude training camp.
He's trained there several times over the years, with the area a frequent location for training camps in the build-up to his Grand Tour goals. Red Bull teammates Gianni Vermeersch and Tim van Dijke have accompanied him on the trip, with the trio based near Granada.
On Sunday, Evenepoel posted an 86.3km ride taking in two ascents of the Puerto Blancares featuring 1,552 metres of elevation. Monday saw him take on a three-hour 83km ride featuring 2,104 metres of elevation, including a climb to 2,300m at the ski resort of Pradollano in the shadow of Spain's highest mountain, the Pico del Veleta.
With no racing planned before Barcelona, Evenepoel's path to the Tour differs from the Tour's other top GC contenders. Jonas Vingegaard is currently racing the Giro as part of his Giro-Tour double bid, while French phenom Paul Seixas will tackle the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as a favourite on his debut there.
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar, meanwhile, heads to the Tour via Switzerland, as a Tour de Suisse debut follows his dominant victory at the Tour de Romandie.
