'As precise as an F1 driver' – Evenepoel starts 2026 preparation with 15 hours in wind tunnel

The 2025 season has barely been consigned to the books, but Remco Evenepoel is already preparing for the new campaign. After linking up with his new Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad for the first time in Salzburg last week, the Olympic champion has been in California in recent days for some wind tunnel testing at Specialized’s headquarters in Morgan Hill.

Evenepoel’s switch from Soudal-QuickStep to Red Bull was facilitated by not requiring a change of bike supplier, but the Belgian still spent some considerable time in the wind tunnel in recent days.

“He’s been with us so often that I don't even remember if it was his fifth or sixth trip to the US,” Leo Menville of Specialized said, according to Het Nieuwsblad. “I don't think any other rider has ever visited our headquarters so often. Remco is one of our ambassadors, but our relationship goes much further than the contract; we’re really very close.”

According to Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel was accompanied on his latest Californian excursion by a delegation of fifteen people from Red Bull, including new teammate Giulio Pellizzari and new Head of Sports Zak Dempster, as well as two aerodynamicists and two mechanics.

As well as photo shoots and a bike fitting, Evenepoel spent a total of fifteen hours in the wind tunnel during his time in Morgan Hill, and he also tested his position on a local track.

“Remco’s days were busy, but he’s often the one who wants to do even more,” Menville said. “On Monday and Tuesday, he spent fifteen hours in our wind tunnel, simply testing his position on the time trial bike. He was at the wind tunnels as early as 7am and left around 6pm. 

“His dedication and attention to detail are all the more impressive considering he's a three-time world champion and has won most of his season’s time trials by a comfortable margin. He might think he’s in a league of his own and could ease off a bit, but he’s doing the opposite. He’s as precise as an F1 driver.”

While Menville was reluctant to divulge any details of the focus of Evenepoel’s testing this week, he noted that the time trial world champion’s previous visit to the facility had made a significant contribution to his equipment choices in 2025.

“I can’t go into too much detail about what exactly we tested over the past few days, but it was during these sessions that the idea for the new visor on the time trial helmet Remco wore this season came about,” he said. “Because we have a lab and all our engineers are present, we can develop prototypes quickly and relatively easily. Remco is excellent at giving feedback, but he also trusts the others.”

Evenepoel’s race programme for 2026 has yet to be divulged, but it is expected that he will ride the Tour de France despite a route that features just a single individual time trial, the 26km test to Thonon-les-Bains on stage 16.

Speaking to Daniel Benson this week, Head of Sports Zak Dempster suggested that Red Bull would take a dual-pronged approach to leadership at Grand Tours, with Florian Lipowitz, third at the 2025 Tour, also eager to race again in July.