'Every reason to aim for yellow' - Time trials give Evenepoel and Red Bull belief for 2027 Tour

Evenepoel has all the more reason to work on dialling his aero position after the unveiling of the 2027 Tour route, which features some 71km of individual time trialling, the highest quota since Bradley Wiggins claimed overall victory in 2012.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk acknowledged that the two time trials would be to the liking of Evenepoel, who scored a fourth straight world title in the discipline last month.

“He is the best time triallist at the moment, the world champion, and definitely he would be happy we have two time trials here,” Denk told VTM Nieuws. “It’s more than 70km in total, so I think he will not be unhappy.”

The first time trial comes on stage 7, a 38km leg through the Loire Vally, while there is also a 33km test around Toulouse on stage 16. Evenepoel has won the flat individual time trials in each of his three Tour appearances to date, and he placed second overall behind Tadej Pogacar in Paris this year.

Although the total altitude gain in 2027 is roughly equivalent to this year’s Tour, the first mountains come later in the race and much of the climbing is distributed across punchy stages. Denk gently pushed back against the idea that the race would be any easier, however, pointing to the 5,400m of climbing on stage 18 to the Col du Portet.

“I see this a bit differently because we have a stage with more than 5,000m of climbing,” he said. “It’s a super tough one. Let’s see and evaluate in detail but I will not confirm this is an easy Tour de France.

“But it’s a very nice one, and I would say very homogenous, with lots of chances for sprinters, also some punchy stages, and three mountaintop finishes. There’s something for every type of rider.”

Speaking ahead of Il Lombardia, Evenepoel had indicated that he was open to racing the Giro d’Italia in 2027, but that prospect seems more remote after the unveiling of a Tour route so suited to his strengths. 

In 2026, Evenepoel served as co-leader at the Tour with Florian Lipowitz, while Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari led the line at the Giro, but Denk was coy about how he would deploy his GC men next season.

“It’s way too early, it’s way too early. We have no information on the parcours of the Giro d’italia. The Tour was announced 30 minutes ago, it’s way too early to open the discussion of Tour line-ups,” said Denk, who reiterated that he was open to the idea of Evenepoel making his Paris-Roubaix debut in 2027.

“I brought this already on the table. From the team’s side, if Remco asks us and wants to ride then we will support him, like we did with the Tour of Flanders this year. I’m not asking him, I just opened the door, and if he’s interested, we support him.”

In a statement released by Red Bull, meanwhile, chief of sports Zak Dempster echoed Denk’s view that the additional time trialling kilometres make Evenepoel a contender for overall victory after his second place in 2026.

“The long ITT at the end of that first week offers us a great opportunity to make an early statement. This could be crucial heading into the Alps in the second week,” Dempster said.

“The second time trial is another highlight of this route. We welcome the return of more individual time trial kilometres, as this adds another dimension to the race and makes the battle for yellow even more open and exciting. Overall, it’s a route that plays to our strengths and gives us every reason to aim for yellow.”