'2026 is still far away' - Remco Evenepoel vague on future amid transfer talk
The Belgian has been repeatedly linked with a move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for 2026, even though he has a year remaining on his existing contract at Soudal-QuickStep. He addressed the speculation during the rest of the Tour de France.
Remco Evenepoel could only smile when someone pointed out that his rivals Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had opted against holding a press conference on the first rest day of the Tour de France.
“Maybe they have a better press officer,” he deadpanned, before apologising to Soudal-QuickStep's media liaison Phil Lowe. “No, as long as it’s not taking half the day, I’m ok with it. It’s part of the job.”
From the moment he arrived in the professional peloton, Evenepoel has seemed to understand that his is an entertainment business as much as a performance business. Facing questions comes with the territory, and Evenepoel has rarely if ever shirked that side of his job.
Speculation over his future has been rumbling throughout this Tour, with Daniel Benson reporting that Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are “closer than ever” to buying him out of the final year of his current deal with Soudal-QuickStep. Red Bull manager Ralph Denk did little to stymy those murmurs in an interview with his team’s in-house podcast on Monday – “First he has to find a solution with his team if he wants to transfer and then we can step in” – and it was inevitable Evenepoel would be asked about his 2026 plans in his rest day press conference.
“2026 is still far away,” Evenepoel said. “It’s obvious I cannot comment on these things because of course there is speculation, and we have to keep everybody happy. Of course, there’s a lot of things going on already for years. I read a lot of things that are not true, unfortunately. I had a big discussion with Jurgen [Foré, team CEO] about this because he’s also worried, but we spoke about it and everything is cleared up. That’s the answer.”
It’s a response that is unlikely to quieten the background noise, but it hasn't seemed to distract Evenepoel to this point.
The third man
Evenepoel reached the rest day in third place overall, 1:29 behind yellow jersey Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and a minute down on favourite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). On his debut a year ago, Evenepoel placed third overall behind Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and he acknowledged that he is the third man in their duel this year too.
All three riders turned professional in 2019. Evenepoel, fresh out of a short but dominant junior career, was perhaps the most highly touted at that point, but he admitted that his rivals had so far outstripped his Grand Tour achievements.
“I’m just trying my best to come close to them,” Evenepoel said. “It’s pretty crazy. When I turned pro, I was 19 and I was straight away pretty good. They were a bit quiet in the beginning and then they came up year by year and now it’s like they’re on another level.
“I think they really took their time to come to this level, so it’s just very nice to be in the mix with them. I’m trying to learn as much as possible. I’m still only 25 so I have years ahead of me to go for my career goals with the Tour and the Giro.
“I’m suffering to try to stay with them, but I think that’s my career goal to at least come next them, so it’s good that I try to race as much as possible against them.”
Although Vingegaard defeated Pogačar to win the Tour in 2022 and 2023, the Slovenian is the overwhelming favourite for this year’s race, and Evenepoel saw little reason to stray from that consensus based on what he has seen so far. In particular, he warned that Visma’s two-pronged attack with Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson might not suffice against this iteration of Pogačar.
“I think the Pogi of 2022 when he cracked is not the same as now. I think Pogi is as strong as the two guys together, so they have to be careful with that,” said Evenepoel, who added that Pogačar and Vingegaard’s focus on one another could play to his advantage.
“For me, I think I’m going to let them do their game. For example, yesterday, when I made my move, none of the three of them responded, it was someone else who caught me.
“I’ll have to take my moment if the legs are there and see what’s possible. But it’s good that they focus on each other, the two teams, and not on us.”
Evenepoel lost a handful of seconds to Pogačar and Vingegaard in the finale of stage 10, and he suggested it was a consequence of losing a chunk of his preparation to a winter training crash. “I’ve been missing a bit, that big punch and that peak power,” he said. That gap in his armoury should weigh less heavily when the Tour enters the Pyrenees on Thursday with a summit finish at Hautacam and then a time trial to Peyragudes the following day.
“The real GC battle will start in two days’ time,” said Evenepoel, who was unsure if the mountain time trial would play in his favour or not.
“I will just do my best and go all-out. There’s not much fatigue in the legs before the climb which will be a big difference compared to the Plateau de Beille stage last year, for instance. In terms of w/kg I think I can try to be up there with them, but it’s difficult to say if that’s enough to win.”
