A proud 22-year-old Remco Evenepoel was crowned Vuelta a Espana Champion in Madrid last September. Evenepoel will take part in this year’s Vuelta looking to defend his title. This year his Soudal-QuickStep is sending a strong line-up to help Evenepoel in his quest against other race favorites such as Primoz Roglic, Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Enric Mas, Geraint Thomas, and Jonas Vingegaard.

Soudal-QuickStep has trusted Andrea Bagioli, Mattia Cattaneo, Jan Hirt, James Knox, Casper Pedersen, Pieter Serry, and Louis Vervaeke with the task of supporting Evenepoel on the roads of Spain.

“Spain is one of my favourite countries, I’ve always felt good and had a lot of success there,” Evenepoel told Roadcycling.com. “Hopefully the trend will continue over the next weeks. When one looks over the course and the start list, one sees it’s going to be a very tough race, but I’ve had a good preparation and can rely on a strong squad, so I have a lot of confidence and motivation ahead of the many challenges that will come,” Evenepoel explained.

Evenepoel has taken ten victories this season and is looking to increase this number. His recent victory in this year’s World Championships Road Race in Scotland has renewed his belief that he can achieve what many sees as the impossible task of beating the strong Jumbo-Visma team in La Vuelta a Espana 2023.

“We have a well-balanced team for the last Grand Tour of the year, featuring strong guys for the climbs, but also riders who can protect Remco on the flat and put him in a good position ahead of the climbs, Soudal-QuickStep sports director Klaas Lodewyck explained.

“We hope to have a good start in Barcelona, then we will continue taking it day by day and see how things pan out, especially as after the first couple of stages we will know more about our own form and how our opponents are performing. We are motivated and looking forward to what we are hoping will be three strong weeks in Spain,” Lodewyck continued.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for comprehensive coverage from Vuelta a Espana 2023.

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