In news that will excite cycle fans across the world, one of the world’s premier riders looks set to make his Tour de France bow, adding intrigue to the Vingegaard and Pogacar battle, could he upset the leading duo?

The 23-year-old Belgian cyclist has won two world championships and a Grand Tour, including the Vuelta a Espana in 2022.

He had to retire from leading the Giro d'Italia last year after testing positive for Covid-19.

Evenepoel won road race gold at the 2022 Cycling World Championships before winning the individual time trial in Scotland in August.

He became the first Belgian to win world time trial gold, doing so at the championships in Stirling, following silver in 2019 and bronze in 2021.

A month later, he failed to retain his Vuelta championship after dropping back on stage 13 but recovered well to win stages 14 and 18.

"Last year was a very special one so I can be proud of how things went, but all that happened in 2023 is in the past now and my entire focus is on this year,” said Evenepoel.

"I will race a lot in France in the coming months and I'm hoping for some more good results and a nice debut in Le Tour."

Evenepoel will begin his 2024 campaign on February 10 at the Figueira Champions Classic, a one-day event in Portugal.