Giro, Tour, Classics? Breaking down Evenepoel's 2026 race programme decisions

Remco Evenepoel has always been fond of planning ahead. Back in 2023, when he abandoned the Giro d’Italia due to COVID-19, speculation that he might swiftly pivot towards an improvised Tour de France debut was dispelled by a Soudal-QuickStep insider. “Not going to happen: Remco likes a project,” was the line, and so it proved.

It is no surprise, then, that Evenepoel has been busily drawing up plans for all contingencies since linking up with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe this winter. For all that Evenepoel scorched across the pro cycling firmament like a meteor on his debut in 2019, this young man in a hurry has tended to mull very carefully over his racing programme each year.

He was signed to spearhead Red Bull’s Tour de France challenge in the seasons ahead and, despite a less favourable route, it seems a foregone conclusion that he will tackle the race in year one of his contract. Or, as he told Het Laatste Nieuws: “In principle, yes, although that’s not 100% certain yet.”

But while the Tour is more or less a fixed point on Evenepoel’s 2026 schedule, his pathway from here to the Grand Départ in Barcelona on July 4 is still fluid. In that same interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the 25-year-old revealed that he was, like Jonas Vingegaard, considering combining the Tour with a tilt at the Giro d’Italia. “At the moment, we have a plan A and a plan B on the table,” he said.

All should be revealed at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s media day in Mallorca on December 10, but in the meantime, we weigh up the broad brushstrokes of Evenepoel’s two potential routes to the Tour.

Evenepoel has made clear that he will not start his season until February at the very earliest, and he told Het Laatste Nieuws that there are two alternatives for his Red Bull debut – the Volta ao Algarve (February 18-22) or the UAE Tour (February 16-22). 

Tadej Pogačar’s plans might weigh on the decision. If the Slovenian’s paymasters demand his presence in the UAE, then Red Bull might look to avoid an early-season showdown by sending Evenepoel to the Volta ao Algarve, a race he has won three times. 

Evenepoel name checked Paris-Nice (March 8-15) as the next race on his schedule, although Tirreno-Adriatico (March 9-15) is an obvious alternative. In any case, Evenepoel will surely ride one of those March stage races as he builds towards the Tour.

His next step is less certain. Evenepoel cited the importance of being “able to ride a Paris-Nice and/or a Volta a Catalunya” with his new teammates, which suggests that he is pondering a stage-race heavy March as he builds towards the Tour.

On the other hand, he also declared himself open to riding Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders. That wouldn’t automatically preclude a Catalunya appearance, but it makes it rather less likely. Or, as Evenepoel said: “Decisions will be made.”

In April, meanwhile, the Ardennes Classics are certain to feature on Evenepoel’s schedule, where he will be vying for a third victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. May would then be devoted to a lengthy altitude camp, though Evenepoel will hope to have identified and remedied any missteps he made in his preparation at the same point in 2025.

For the past two years, Evenepoel has chosen the Critérium du Dauphiné as his pre-Tour tune-up. It seems the logical choice again here – although it will be fascinating to see if the Tour de Suisse’s new five-day format can entice some Tour de France contenders in 2026.

A likely appearance at the Belgian Championships would precede the Tour, where Evenepoel would lead the line for Red Bull alongside Florian Lipowitz. Pogačar will be the obvious favourite and Vingegaard his most likely challenger, but Evenepoel would hope to replicate his 2024 podium finish as the bare minimum while closing the sizeable gap to the Tour’s Big Two.

After the Tour, meanwhile, Evenepoel has indicated that the Canadian WorldTour races would be his most likely route towards the World Championships in Montreal, where he will defend his time trial title and seek the regain the road race crown he won in Wollongong in 2022.

A few years ago, there was a growing consensus that combining GC tilts at the Giro and Tour was no longer really feasible in modern cycling, but Pogačar’s successful 2024 double has led to something of a rethink. And it’s helped, of course, that RCS Sport has opted for marginally less arduous routes in recent seasons to facilitate the task.

If Evenepoel does opt for the Giro-Tour double, his Spring will be configured differently, and one imagines Pogačar’s 2024 schedule might serve as a template. As established, Evenepoel would start his season at the UAE Tour or the Volta ao Algarve in February, but his March schedule is less clear.

Like Pogačar, Evenepoel might even choose to skip the Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico debate altogether before riding the Volta a Catalunya as he builds towards the Giro, with an altitude camp to follow in March. That would almost certainly rule out a possible Tour of Flanders debut, and Milan-San Remo would also be far less likely if Evenepoel opts for both the Giro and the Tour. 

Evenepoel’s Ardennes commitments would also surely be scaled back and perhaps limited solely to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as was the case when he won La Doyenne ahead of his tilt at the 2023 Giro.

After riding the Giro in May, Evenepoel would surely prefer to follow Pogačar’s lead and avoid any more racing ahead of the Tour, although his national federation’s participation rules mean a Belgian Championships appearance might still be on the cards. And, like Pogačar in 2024, Evenepoel would inevitably spend a chunk of June at altitude ahead of the Tour.

Per Evenepoel’s Het Laatste Nieuws interview, meanwhile, his post-Tour programme would be unchanged in this scenario, with a break in August followed by a gradual build-up to the Montreal Worlds. 

There are pros and cons to each approach for Evenepoel and Red Bull. Plan A, namely the more traditional or conservative Tour-first approach, has the obvious benefit of allowing Evenepoel every chance to reach July in peak condition without the kind of residual mental and physical fatigue riding the Giro would inevitably provoke.

Focusing on the Tour would also give Evenepoel the freedom to throw himself wholeheartedly into one-day races in March and April. Above all, it would give him the chance to race Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne ahead of Liège. It might also, if Evenepoel is so inclined, see him add Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders to his repertoire.

For Red Bull, a Tour-centric programme for Evenepoel means that they can accommodate one of their other GC leaders – Primoz Roglic, perhaps – by making him the outright captain at the Giro. Meanwhile, after Red Bull’s anonymous Classics campaign in 2025, the idea of a rampaging Evenepoel going toe to toe with Pogačar in their colours in March and April surely appeals.

Finally, sending a fresh Evenepoel to the Tour, most likely alongside Lipowitz, fits with Red Bull’s view of the signing as a long-term investment. True, Pogačar seems unassailable at this juncture, but the team’s aim is to win the Tour with Evenepoel at some point over the course of his contract. They might feel the best way to prepare for that future is to have Evenepoel go all-in for the Tour and measure his progress directly against the Pogačar yardstick from year one.

The con with the Tour-first approach is obvious and simple. Pogačar is, by a distance, the best bike rider in the world and, on the evidence of 2025, the chasm between the Slovenian and the rest seems only to be growing. 

If Pogačar maintains those standards into 2026, a fifth overall victory in July begins to feel almost like a foregone conclusion. Red Bull and Evenepoel must ask themselves if they truly fancy their chances of upsetting the odds.

Combining the Giro and Tour, meanwhile, comes with obvious risks and drawbacks for Evenepoel. One argument against riding both Grand Tours is that it will force Evenepoel into a scaled back Spring Classics campaign, perhaps limiting to an appearance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and nothing more.

Riding the Giro also means gambling with Evenepoel’s readiness for the Tour. All sorts of obstacles can tumble into man’s path at the Giro, and cycling history is punctuated by tales of riders who went too deep at the corsa rosa and found their reservoirs of energy running low by July.

And, of course, there is also the simple risk of being caught between two stools, namely being slightly undercooked for the Giro and yet too fatigued to make the expected impression at the Tour, which was Nairo Quintana’s experience back in 2017.

On the other hand, and assuming there are no surprises in Pogačar’s programme, there is a very strong case for Evenepoel riding the Giro, and not only because RCS are likely to offer a few more time trialling kilometres in May than ASO have laid on for July.

It’s striking that Vingegaard and now Evenepoel have floated the idea of riding both the Giro and Tour in 2026. With this iteration of Pogačar seemingly unbeatable in July, it’s easy to see the appeal for Evenepoel in tackling a seemingly more winnable Grand Tour in May with a view to lifting some of the pressure before he even gets to the Tour.  

Riding the Giro and Tour is both onerous and ambitious, but it might also be the better option for Evenepoel in 2026. It’s certainly worth considering very seriously over the next month or so.