Wind be damned! Remco Evenepoel once again showed the world why he is one the best, taking the win in the Stage 2 time trial of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. But the Olympic and world TT champion did it in slightly unusual circumstances this time. Instead of his usual Specialized Shiv TT rig–and his incredible position on the bars, he was on his–albeit very fast–road bike.
Strong winds forced riders onto road bikes, and the stage did not count toward the overall classification. But the champ was unwavering–and btw, his position on a road bike is pretty outstanding, just like his chrono position.
Remco being Remco
From the intermediate checkpoint, he set a smoking pace. The Belgian easily usurped early leader Mathias Vacek. Evenepoel briefly gave up the top spot to teammate Aleksandr Vlasov, only to take it back minutes later by shaving off an additional eight seconds. The performance left no doubt: the dude can dominate regardless of equipment or conditions.
While the result may not influence the general classification, it definitely shows 2026 is set to be an interesting one for the Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe squad during the early season.
Big year ahead?
It’s barely February and Evenepoel has already had three wins–and all of them have been dominant. He also spearheaded a dub with the team time trial win in Mallorca, bringing his season total to four. (Also, how much would it suck to be the guy who is on Evenepoel’s wheel in a TTT? He is so low, so aero, and so fast. RIP legs.)
“There was still a stage win to grab and I also wanted to respect the organization. They decided to keep the race go for a stage result and I decided to do a race. We also need to be real sportsmen in our minds and be ready for flexibility as well,” Evenepoel said. “For me it was not a big difference because I know I can also ride pretty fast on a normal bike. We decided to race for the victory and I think it was a good decision.Aleks and I are in first and second place today, which is a pretty good result for us. We prepared all day like it was a normal TT day. It was a good test with a nice result.”
The early season this year is certainly going better than 2025. In early December of 2024, he was hospitalized after crashing into the door of a postal van during a training ride. That was the second time for a set back. In April he was part of the brutal crash in April at the Tour du Pays Basque that derailed Primož Roglič’s and Jonas…
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