FLORENCE, Italy: Belgian cycling star Remco Evenepoel sparked roars of laughter when asked on Thursday what result he expected at next week's Euro 2024 last 16 game between France and Belgium.
Evenepoel was captain of the Belgium under-16s before switching sports, winning the road race and time trial world junior championships in 2019.
Les Bleus face Belgium in the knockout stages of the European Championship on Monday.
"4-0 for Belgium," Evenepoel quipped quck as a flash and with a cheeky smile before making his Tour de France debut on Saturday.
The current world time trial champion recently said his rival Tadej Pogacar's outfit Team UAE Emirates were the Real Madrid of cycling and was quick to offer a football comparison for his own Soudal Quick-Step team.
"Man City," said the 24-year-old, whose compatriot Kevin De Bruyne is one of the English club's best players.
"We don't quite have the experience of Real Madrid but we have the mental strength. We have a lot of guys with a lot of experience and ambition," he added.
During the Tour, which begins in Florence, Evenepoel will be backed up by three pure climbers, three tough rollers for the plains and one sprinter.
The peloton were paraded in front of a curious Florence public in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and alongside Michel Angelo's masterpiece sculpture of David.
Evenepoel walked into the press room wearing a large red face mask.
"This is just a precaution, remember my Giro last year," said Evenepoel of the 2023 race he abandoned whilst in the lead due to Covid-19.
He then assessed the chances of his rivals for the title including Primoz Roglic and defending champions Jonas Vingegaard
"Primoz is one of the greatest riders in recent years, he can play a role here," he said.
"Jonas Vingegaard can certainly be in the mix, otherwise he would not have come."
He reserved giant praise for two-time former champion and form rider Tadej Pogacar as the man to beat.
"If he keeps safe and sound he'll be more or less unbeatable," said Evenepoel.
"So for me objective number one is to target a stage win and also the very highest possible position in the standings."
Broadcast live in more than 100 countries, the first four days of this Tour de France are drenched with Italian colour.
Starting with the Renaissance beauty of Florence the race crosses the Rubicon river, takes in the seaside sights at Rimini, passes along the Via Romagna road into Bologna and eventually moves out of Turin towards France for the remaining 17 stages.
The route crosses the Alps twice with seven mountain slogs, features a first-ever race on white gravel and ends with an eye-catching individual time trial from Monaco to Nice along the French Riviera.
The traditional ending in Paris has been deemed impossible this year due to the Olympic Games.