Deceuninck-QuickStep's Remco Evenpoel reiterated that this year's Giro d'Italia, which runs from October 3-25, is his main goal for the season. In a video interview conducted as part of the Belgian fundraising event Red Nose Day, when asked if he could win the Giro overall, he smiled and said he would have to wait until the finish in Milan at the end of October.

The Belgian version of Red Nose Day, which is part of the British charity Comic Relief's fundraising efforts to raise money for those in need in the UK and abroad, took place for the first time in 2015 only in Flanders, with the majority of the money raised by Rode Neusen Dag going to schools and organizations, seem to be invested in the mental health of young people. A portion is also donated to Comic Relief for international projects.

Evenepoel pulled no punches when interviewed by Belgian singer and host Laura Tesoro, who asked Evenepoel if he intended to win the Giro in a video published Wednesday on Het Laatste Nieuws' website.

"Am I going to win the Giro d'Italia?" He laughed and repeated the question to give me a little more time to think about my answer. "I would love to, and getting a good result in the Giro is all I'm preparing for, so hopefully I can answer 'yes' on October 25."

Two-time Spanish Giro winner Alberto Contador recently said he considers Evenepoel to be one of his big contenders this year.

"If I'm in good shape, I want to go for Maglia Rosa. Maybe for a few days, maybe until the last day, but I think that would be very nice," the 20-year-old Belgian told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this month.

As part of Red Nose Day on Wednesday, Evenepoel was also asked about mental health and stress at work.

When asked if he has used a sports psychologist, he said, "We have people like that on the team. 'Sometimes I talk to them. And when we start talking about things, we can work out things that were on our minds. It helps a lot, and I've certainly used that."

"I have a lot of healthy stress. It gives me motivation and adrenaline and makes me feel like I want to bike faster. Stress never has a negative effect on me. Even during the big races, which was the case last year," Evenpoel said, referring to his first season as a professional in 2019, when he won the Clasica San Sebastian, won the overall at the Baloise Belgian Tour, and became the European time trial champion.

"In time trials, for example, you have to wait all day to cycle for 30 minutes," he explained. 'That 30 minutes is all you have all day. And you have to be able to deal with tension.

This season, Evenpoel has already taken stage and overall victories at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina and the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal in February. He will resume competition at the Vuelta a Burgos in Spain on July 28 after the race was suspended due to a coronavirus outbreak.