Remco Evenpoel was honored in Brussels on Wednesday with Belgium's Sports Merit Trophy for his achievements in 2022, but his attention has already turned to the new season, which begins in just under a month at the Vuelta a San Juan.

The world champion has decided to compete in the Giro d'Italia in 2023, so he will have to wait a little longer to face Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in a Grand Tour, but he suggested they could face off as early as the UAE Tour in February. According to [Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab)], "That's the plan at the moment, but it's not completely decided yet," Evenpoel said. 'The Volta ao Algarve also has a time trial, so that would be an option.'

"It will be nice to compete with Tadej in a race he has already won twice. It's like a world championship for his team. We are still considering what is the best option. At the moment, the only races I am 100% sure about are San Juan, Liège, and the Giro."

The Soudal-Quick Step rider said that the pre-Giro schedule will consist of "four short stage races and a lot of training camps," adding that targeting Liege-Bastogne-Liege is not necessarily beneficial. 'We will be doing some high-altitude training before Liège, so the question is whether we can start with good legs,' The question is whether I can start with a good leg," he said.

Evenepoel, who has already been out scouting the two time trials early in the Giro (Abruzzo on opening day and Cesena on stage 9), warned that the race will ultimately depend on how he copes with a series of mountains in the third week.

"The center of gravity is in week three, and we have another monster time trial on the last day (Monte Russari)," he said. 'I'd like to find a few more stages, but it's not easy to schedule them. I like what I've seen so far. It's a good course and I'm glad I chose the Giro."

Evenpoel will not be competing against Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) in Italy. Asked if he was looking forward to playing against them, Evenpoel replied: "Yes, I am. But personally, I'm mainly looking at the Grand Tour route and whether there will be time trials there. The time trial at the Giro was the most fascinating part of the 2023 Giro, and I'd love to see them in a Grand Tour right away, not in a week-long stage race."