Van Wilder: Much less stress on Soudal post-Remco
Soudal-Quick Step is enjoying its most-successful Tour de France in a few years, with three stage wins for Tim Merlier and Valentin Paret-Peintre making a concerted (if likely doomed) run for polka dots. For Ilan Van Wilder, currently 13th overall, there's one big reason: The departure of Remco Evenepoel.
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, the Belgian climber said, "A lot of the stress is gone. Everything is a little freer and more relaxed. We no longer carry that heavy responsibility every day, where nothing is allowed to go wrong." Van Wilder emphasized his comments were not meant as criticism of his former teammate, but rather a reflection of the intense pressure Evenepoel is under that permeates everything around his team.
And, added Van Wilder, he's happy not to have to deal with it anymore. "Honestly, I would not like to be in Remco’s team," he said. "And I do not mean that negatively." The weight of expectation that has now transferred with Evenepoel to his new Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team was like "constantly racing under a magnifying glass; I was getting a little tired of it," said Van Wilder.
