Remco Evenepoel will race for the first time since the Itzulia Basque Country crash at Critérium du Dauphiné, testing his fitness using a week-long French stage race as an important stepping stone towards the Tour de France.

The 24-year-old Belgian has made his Tour de France debut and leads the Sudar Quick-Step team, which includes many of the riders who will support him in May, aiming for overall success.     

Neopro Antoine Fuby, James Knox, Mikel Landa, Gianni Moscon, Casper Pedersen and Iran Van Wilder will support Evenepole at the Dauphine, which will be held from 6-2-9.

Evenepoel recently spent time training at altitude in the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain. He needed surgery to repair his broken collarbone, but soon returned to training after the Itzulia Basque Country crash. But he is still not at his best, so he fulfilled his overall ambition for the Criterium du Dauphine.  

"I look forward to returning to the race. After the crash and injury in Italy, I'm in a good place but still have some work to do so I'll be back in top form," Evenepoel told Soudal-QuickStep to the French Stage Race

"It's nice to discover the Dauphine, but this is going to go back to the rhythm of the race and see where I am." In my general classification position

2024-6-2 Sunday at the Dauphine・Begnis Criterium, ending after 1 week. The race starts in the Arie division, then heads east to the Alps and ends with a trio of summit finishes at the Colette d'albado, Samoan 1600 and the Plateau de Guglière Finale.

Stage 4 has a time trial of 34.4 km of ascent, and Stages 1 and 5 have two stages allocated for sprinters, while the Dauphine Peloton is set to face a week-long climb.  

The Dauphine will be the last significant test before this summer's Tour de France starting in 1 month in Florence, Italy. He is expected to return to the Belgian national Championships before heading to the Tour de France.  

"A lot of summit finishes are going to be important because they give us the opportunity to see where Lemco stands at this point in the season," said Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Tom Steels. 

"We also want to discover how he fare in his first time trial since that injury. It's going to be a hard race, with a tough whole course and a tough weekend.

"We are confident, the team is very good, mainly composed of strong and experienced riders, but the plan is still one day because we know there will be some progress.”