Belgian national coach Rick Verbrugghe is backing Lemko Evenpoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) to shine for three weeks at the 2020 Giro d'Italia, assuming the postponed race is held in October as scheduled.

Evenpoel was scheduled to make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro this month, but the race was postponed until the fall due to a coronavirus outbreak; the 20-year-old initially planned to target the opening time trial and race in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

Verbrugghe suggested that Evenpoel had no intention of finishing the 2020 Giro, but he believes that his goals may have been revised upward with the reorganization of the calendar.

"The original idea was to run the Giro d'Italia for two weeks," Verbrugghe told RTBF (opens in new tab). 'What about now? Will the original plan be respected? The athletes are motivated and full of energy. They want to run as far as possible.'

"They have barely raced this season with the lockdown. All they have done is training. Lemko might do better in three weeks than in two. I think he has the qualities to shine in three weeks."

Verbrugghe won the Pescara prologue in 2001 and wore Maria Rosa in his Giro debut. Evenpoel had hoped to emulate his national coach in the opening time trial in Budapest, but was ruled out of starting in Hungary, so the Giro will start in southern Italy instead.

"It is absolutely possible. The prologue should suit him," Verbrugghe said of Evenpoel's prospects of making his Giro debut in the pink jersey.

The calendar change means that the Giro will clash with Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which was also Evenpoel's goal for 2020. Verbrugghe insists that the Belgian is right to skip La Doyenne this year for his Grand Tour debut.

"I completely understand the reasoning behind it. By doing so, he will be able to spend more days in the race and learn more lessons from it," Verbrugghe said.