Remco Evenepoel will join Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe this winter as one of the team’s leading riders, but whether he will take the start in the 2026 Tour de France remains undecided.
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Zakkari Dempster told Sporza that the team is still evaluating the season ahead. “We are looking at the parcours with the general classification in mind,” Dempster said. “But there are also plenty of stages that suit our racing style and the strengths of many of our riders.”
Red Bull’s stacked roster
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has several other top contenders on its roster, including Primož Roglič, Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari and Florian Lipowitz, who finished third in last year’s Tour de France.
Dempster said the team will wait until the routes of other major races are confirmed before locking in the programme for its leaders. “We’re holding off on making final decisions until we see the parcours of the other Grand Tours,” he said.
Evenepoel’s role in France — whether targeting stage wins or the overall classification — will be clarified once the team finalizes its season plan.
Evenepoel is aiming to close the gap with Tadej Pogačar, particularly on the steep climbs where the Slovenian has long held an edge. At his new squad, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, team management already believes the Belgian has the potential to match Pogačar in certain key areas.
“Our official work with Remco starts in a few weeks, but behind the scenes, preparations are already underway,” Sven Vanthourenhout, directeur sportif of the German team, in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, said.
Vanthourenhout is well aware of Pogačar’s dominance on long climbs. He pointed to the recent European championships, where the Slovenian’s attack left Evenepoel struggling to hold the wheel. “Pogačar can sustain an acceleration longer than anyone else. For several minutes, he can push twenty, thirty, even forty watts above the rest, then it settles back to a more ‘normal’ level,” he said.
Evenepoel has acknowledged he wants to improve in this area. “It’s up to my new coach to find a solution,” the Belgian said.
Vanthourenhout believes Evenepoel’s baseline fitness is already comparable to Pogačar’s, but there’s room to enhance his capacity for very intense efforts. “It’s no secret that targeted interval training can address this,” he said.
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