Former Vingegaard coach takes charge of Remco Evenepoel’s training at Red Bull

According to Belgian newspaper HLN, the appointment has already been made internally, although Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have yet to publicly confirm the change. Heemskerk steps into the role as Dan Lorang prepares to leave at the end of July, with the Luxembourg coach set to join Lidl-Trek as Head of Performance as part of the team’s wider rebuild.

The timing is significant. When Lorang’s departure was first announced in April, the plan appeared to be for the Luxembourg coach to remain involved with Evenepoel until the end of the season. A full change in the Belgian’s personal coaching set-up was expected only after 2026.

That transition has now been brought forward.

Heemskerk left Visma | Lease a Bike in February after eight years with the Dutch team. During that spell, he became one of the most influential coaches in the sport, working closely with Vingegaard from his early years at the team and helping guide him to Tour de France victories in 2022 and 2023. He was also part of the structure behind Vingegaard’s Vuelta a España success last season.

At Red Bull, Heemskerk has joined the coaching group led by Head Coach John Wakefield. HLN reports that he has already started managing the training of several riders, including Evenepoel.

When he left Visma, the Dutch coach said he had found it difficult to keep applying his creativity and passion in the way he wanted. According to HLN, he has now found more room for his ideas inside Red Bull’s performance structure.

It is a high profile appointment for a team trying to turn Evenepoel into a consistent Tour de France challenger. Red Bull signed the Belgian with the clear ambition of closing the gap to Tadej Pogačar and Vingegaard, and Heemskerk arrives with recent experience of preparing a rider to win the biggest race in the sport.

For now, the wider preparation plan remains unchanged. Evenepoel has not raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège and is following a controlled altitude programme rather than taking part in a traditional June race block. He is currently working towards the Tour through training camps, with the team prioritising precision over race rhythm.

That strategy means Evenepoel could line up at the Tour de France without having raced for more than two months, a route that has not produced a winner in the race’s recent history. His next competitive appearance may not come until the opening stage in Barcelona on July 4.

Red Bull believe that the controlled environment gives them the best chance of shaping his form exactly as required. The programme includes long endurance rides, climbing efforts, time trial work and sharper sessions designed to simulate the demands of Tour racing without exposing him to the unpredictability of a preparation race.

The handover comes deep into Evenepoel’s Tour build-up. Lorang had shaped the first months of the Belgian’s Red Bull programme, but Heemskerk now takes over with Barcelona already in sight.

For Lorang, it marks the end of a decade at the team. The Luxembourger helped build the performance structure behind Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s rise at WorldTour level and will start his new job at Lidl-Trek in August. What he no longer has, however, is control over Evenepoel’s Tour de France preparation.

A similar pattern has played out at Visma | Lease a Bike, where Grischa Niermann, who is also on his way to Lidl-Trek, has likewise been taken off the team’s Tour de France project.