‘He'd surrounded himself with people who said yes to him’ - Gilbert says Evenepoel right to move

Remco Evenepoel has made the right choice to leave Soudal-Quickstep for pastures new, according to former team mate Philippe Gilbert viaLe Soir.

After months, even years, of speculation, last week, Evenepoel’s move away from Soudal-Quickstep was finally confirmed, the Belgian superstar signing for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, after being courted by a number of other squads. 

Evenepoel joined the team straight after winning both road and time trial titles at the 2018 Junior World Championships and was soon among the wins, Clásica San Sebastián being the biggest success of that opening year. But as success grew, so did questions about the team’s ability to sustain a team to help Evenepoel’s bid for grand tour wins. 

With victory at the 2022 Vuelta España, a best young rider classification win at his first Tour de France to go with two stage wins, it seemed things were going well, especially with the team building a squad around him. But still the rumours persisted, and now he’s off. 

Gilbert might not have been a grand tour winner during his 21-year career, but he tasted plenty of success, counting five monuments and a world championships among his haul of victories. He rode with Evenepoel during the younger man’s debut season and thinks Evenepoel is right to make the change. 

“Remco is right to step out of his comfort zone. The financial resources will be completely different,” Gilbert told the Belgian newspaper, Le Soir. “I'm not talking about the salary he'll receive, but about the opportunities in research, development, the quality of coaching and so on. He'll have a stronger and richer technical and technological base, essential for the progress he's pursuing."

"I have the impression that he's mainly held on to his performances in recent months at Soudal-Quickstep. The team really didn't have any assets left to help him progress. In fact, he'd surrounded himself with people who said yes to him, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the choices.”

There has been a lot of speculation about Evenepoel’s position in his new team, which is rich with GC talent. Not only is Primož Roglič still there, but they have up-and-coming talents Giulio Pellizzari, who was sixth at the Giro, and Florian Lipowitz, who finished third at the Tour de France this year and beat Evenepoel by almost two minutes at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Such competition will be good, says Gilbert.

“He'll have to fight to survive in a team that's intrinsically stronger. He'll feel a bit like he did at the beginning of his career, when he joined Quickstep and had to earn his place in our squad. Next season, at Red Bull-BORA, he'll have to fight to survive in a team that's intrinsically stronger than the one he's played for so far."