World champion Remco Evenpoel will return to European racing in 2023 at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Monday.

While Evenpoel will make a brief appearance to defend his title in the Belgian Classics at Brabants Pile and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Catalunya will be his last stage race before heading to Italy for the Giro start on May 6.

The Belgian was quietly confident at Sunday afternoon's press conference, morale boosted by his victory in the UAE Tour three weeks ago and two weeks of high-altitude training.

Ahead of the Giro, "The biggest difference between 90% and 100% is losing that last little bit of weight," Evenpoel said. 'But power-wise everything is good, probably better than I expected.' I will be taking on Giro rivals such as [Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), and above all Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma). Giro defending champion Jai Hindley (Bora Hansgrohe), Eoghan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Richard Kalapas (EF Education Easypost), and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) will also join the Volta.

The Belgian star recognized that the Volta was an ideal opportunity to gain reference points before returning to the Giro in May, as he had hoped to compete in 2020 before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.

"I'm really happy to start here. I've already checked the finish on Monday," Evenpoel told reporters.

"It's going to be a hard race overall and a perfect simulation of the final week of the Giro.

"A lot of riders will be in good shape here, so we'll take it step by step... The first test at the UAE Tour went very well, so this will be the second one: 15]

"I'm in better shape than I was a month ago, so I should be on par with the other riders."

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On paper, the bolters are usually settled in two or three mid-week Pyrenean stages. However, last year's events, when Richard Calapaz and Sergio Iguita completely upset the overall on a seemingly innocuous transition stage and ousted Almeida from a seemingly unassailable lead, proved that this is not always the case. [After the Pyrenees, Volta will visit Lo Porto, one of the toughest climbs in southern Catalonia. And as Evenpoel warns, with three summit finishes in four days, climbers will have many opportunities and tactics will not be straightforward.

"In a week-long race, one should never hesitate when there is a chance to gain time.

"But there are also hard days, so it's always a case of punching out and getting two shots back. You might have to be careful about a big effort on the first day, but with three mountain prizes to win, that day is a big opportunity. But I am not the only one who thinks so, and at the end of the week it will be a question of legs and freshness."

During a training camp in the Canary Islands, Evenepoel set a new Strava record on Monday for the west side ascent of Tenerife's Teide volcano. He was not, however, overly enthusiastic about its significance.

"It means nothing. It was just an exercise I was doing in training and happened to set the fastest time. It's not something that will change a rider's career," he concluded. And," he concluded, "it's not going to change the rider's career. The training camp was pretty intense, a lot of hard training," he concluded. But on the flip side, sometimes you come back from high altitude training camp in good shape, so I hope it's the same here."

"So the goal is clear. Stage wins and podiums.

He did not rule out aiming for the overall win, but said, "With a result like that, I can be happy that we are doing a good job for the Giro."

But while, in the eyes of the media and fans, Volta's main focus may be on how Evenepoel fares against Roglic, he noted that he has plenty of other opponents in the race.

"I think there are more [strong contenders]," he said. Primozh is one of the best in the Grand Tours, so whenever he starts he's one of the favorites to win, but I think the UAE Tour is very strong both here and in the Giro."

"There are 10 to 15 riders who could win here, not just Primosh and myself. They are as strong as the team that competed in the Vuelta a España. "I have no doubts about them and I have full confidence in myself and them." "We are ready to compete with the best GC teams."

And if Evenpoel's condition is, as he says, much better than it was on the UAE Tour, when he was already in great shape, there is no escaping the fact that the field is also much deeper than it was during the World Tour races in the Middle East.

In any case, Evenpoel is hoping to use Volta as a stepping stone to May.

"My power numbers are very good and I'm slowly getting closer and closer to my Grand Tour weight; the biggest difference between 90 percent and 100 percent is the last little bit of weight I have to lose."

"But it's just a matter of time. But it's only a matter of time. I still have a few more weeks of training at altitude after this, but everything is going well power-wise, probably better than expected. Now it's all about fine-tuning."