After winning the overall at last week's UAE Tour, his first victory of the 2023 season, Lemco Evenpoel is heading to the highlands to prepare for the Giro d'Italia.

World champion Lemco Evenpoel heads to Tenerife and Mount Teide after 14 days of racing at the Vuelta a San Juan and UAE Tour, where he will continue his training camp until the Volta a Catalunya on the 20th.

Evenpoel will race in the Canary Islands alongside his Sourdal-Quick Step teammate, newcomer Jan Hilt, and Louis Verweke, who made his Grand Tour debut at the Giro two years ago.

Team trainer Cohen Pelgrim will also head to the training camp, and Soinier and his mechanics will be in full swing preparing for the Giro.

The group will stay at the Hotel Parador de las Cañadas del Teide on top of the mountain. This is a popular destination for the team. Jumbo Visma has effectively used their stay at high altitude this winter and attributes the recent training camp to the success of the opening weekend.

Evenpoel's next assignment is Catalunya, where he will make his debut and tackle three summit finishes in Valtell, La Molina, and Lo Port. Another trip to the highlands will follow before returning to Belgium to defend his Brabantspaille and Liège-Bastogne-Liège titles.

"I'm really proud, it was the first race I wanted to do well in GC," said Evenpoel

after his 11th career UAE Tour victory.

"I haven't been to the highlands yet. There are only good signs, so we have to keep it going."

"I think so.

"Like I said before, without the high altitude and the special training, I think a lot more improvement is possible.

"Now we are going to go to high altitude for the first time and start serious training for the Giro."