Remco Evenepoel’s next Grand Tour target is the 2023 Giro d’Italia

Remco Evenepoel's next Grand Tour target is the 2023 Giro d'Italia

Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl announced via social media on Wednesday that Remco Evenepoel plans to race the Giro d’Italia in 2023. The reigning Vuelta a España champion, Evenepoel emerged as a Grand Tour contender when he stormed to victory in Spain just weeks before he win the 2022 road World Championship title.

Standing with the Duomo di Amalfi as his backdrop, wearing his rainbow bands, the young Belgian hinted that his reconnaissance of the Giro course was already underway.

“I’m in Italy for the moment to do some recons,” Evenepoel said in a video on Twitter. “I will ride the Giro in 2023. I am really really looking forward to it.”

Whether or not Evenepoel would line up against the other young GC superstars Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France was a hot topic at the end of this season. In October he said he would announce his next move in the new year.

“I’ve made up my mind,” Evenepoel told Het Nieuwsblad, “but the decision won’t be announced until next January. I can simply say I’m happy with my race program, calm at the start but gets more and more intense. The opposite to this year, in some ways.”

It seems he was happy enough with his upcoming calendar to announce his intention to fight for pink already at the end of November. The world champion also hinted that he possibly wouldn’t target yellow just a year after winning the Vuelta in what would be his debut at the French grand tour. Although a Tour title remains his dream: “the Tour de France mission will now be a priority,” Evenepoel said. “One day I want to win there too, that’s the ultimate dream.

“That does not exclude an intermediate milestone in 2023. So far, the Giro d’Italia looks very nice.”

Evenepoel will go into 2023 with a skip in his step thanks to a fantastic end to the 2022 season. His Vuelta overall victory was made even sweeter by winning two stages and he even landed himself on the podium of the Worlds individual time trial.

But what better way to finish the season than a rainbow jersey. Evenepoel will be hard to miss once the new season starts.

“It will be a special edition as I will be wearing my rainbow jersey.”