The life of a pro is very different to what I was used to. Last year, I was still in school and busy the whole day. Now, I have so much time on my hands. I wake up, maybe go for a little ride on the bike before breakfast, then I eat something and then I go for another ride.
In my school days, my day would be over after my afternoon ride but now, I’m back already at 3 or 4pm and that’s it. I have nothing more to do. This is when you have to be smart about recovery and I feel – maybe because I’m still young – that I have some difficulties adjusting to this part of my new life. In the first months of the season, I probably made a few mistakes in this area, not getting enough rest.
Except from my performances in Argentina and Turkey, there was this day in UAE Tour. A day with lots of wind and echelons. It was a real war out there and the peloton had split in two. I got caught behind a crash and ended up in the second echelon but I felt the pace wasn’t high enough so I attacked and rode across to the first group on my own.
When I got there, another crash happened and I found myself behind once again. This time with Elia Viviani, who we were going for that day. Tom Dumoulin was also in that group. I started to pull at the front for Viviani and I just went full gas for 10 minutes or so trying and close the gap. Eventually we made it back and when things calmed down a bit, Dumoulin went to me and said “Wow, you’re really amazing. Good job!”
That was really a big moment for me, to have the Giro d’Italia winner and time trial world champion come and tell me that. It was the most beautiful moment of my season so far.
Read the full Remco Evenepoel interview here. Watch him race this weekend at Hammer Stavanger starting on Friday. To read more about the event, click here!
