Evenepoel's race-free Tour prep questioned as his new Tarmac SL9 is spotted in France
A month ago, Remco Evenepoel and Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe revealed his training-only approach to the Tour de France, a change in his programme that was due to include the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that starts this weekend. With Evenepoel training around Calpe, Spain, his team quietly announced its roster for the artist formerly known as the Dauphiné on Thursday, not including the Belgian leader. However, Evenepoel's avoidance has been called into question after one of his bikes was spotted among the team's equipment at the Tour warm-up event.
The new Specialized Tarmac SL9 is one of many new models making their debut in France this week, and CyclingNews revealed on Friday afternoon that one amongst them not only had a gold chain favoured by the double Olympic champion, but a name sticker (curiously positioned) on the underside of the frame's downtube.
Whether the presence of his bike means anything more than it being housed in the mechanics van pre-Tour is doubtful, but it wouldn't be the first time this season that Evenepoel has caused a storm in a teacup with a last-minute change of plans. [CyclingNews]
