Remco Evenpole plans to return to racing "as soon as possible" for the start of the 2021 season after fracturing his pelvis in a fiery crash at Il Lombardia in August.

The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider was forced to miss the Giro d'Italia, but he has confirmed he will make his Grand Tour debut in 2021.

In a video call with the Belgian press on Monday afternoon, Evenpoel said he intended to begin his comeback at the Tour Down Under, but suggested that his first race in 2021 might be the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February.

"We had planned to resume in Australia, but unfortunately these races were canceled," Evenpoel said, Wielerflits (opens in new tab), Het Laatste Nieuws (opens in new tab), Het Nieuwsblad ( (opens in new tab) reported." So it probably won't be until February. Probably the Tour of Valencia. The first Grand Tour isn't until May, so there is still plenty of time. I have to sweat the "rust" out of my body first."

"The Olympics are on my program, but above all I want to ride one of the Grand Tours. I'm impatient to make my debut there. I don't care which Grand Tour, but I want to ride one of them."

At this year's Giro, another Grand Tour debutant, Joao Almeida, led Detunink-Quick Step in the absence of Evenepoel, and the Portuguese rider spent 15 days in Maria Rosa before finishing fourth overall in Milan.

Evenepoel is currently in Calpe and traveled to Spain a week ago to train in warmer weather; the 20-year-old Evenepoel was bullish when asked if he was rehabbing an injury or preparing for a race.

"Racing: my head is completely focused on the 2021 season," said Evenpoel, who revealed that he trained for 26 hours and covered 736 kilometers in his first seven days of training in Calpe. He also told reporters that he had lost about 5 kg of weight during his time off.

"I weigh only 59-60 kg now, so I can't compare my wattage or numbers with last year, but with less weight, I can maximize my speed with less wattage," Evenpoel said. 'The muscle mass I lost in the beginning has come back, but the baby fat is completely gone. When I look at my upper body, it's skin and bones.

"I always paid attention to my diet. For every kilogram of weight I gained, I knew that one kilogram was one kilogram too much to reach the top again. I'm certainly not anorexic, but that's my new lifestyle. It made me even more aware of the importance of healthy eating."

Evenpoel revealed that his recovery from his injury had been "better than expected," but admitted that the effects of the crash remained after he got off the bike.

"The inside of my right leg, near the human bone, is still a little sensitive and will take some time to heal. But it doesn't affect me when I'm on the bike. It's just when I'm sitting in a chair or something like that," said Evenpoel, dismissing the idea of a nervous descent after his August fall at Solmano.

"Right after the crash, I was in bed watching the Tour and Marc Hirschi was riding a super crazy descent. If I was still scared I would have looked away for a while.