‘I will forever be grateful’ - Remco Evenepoel says final goodbye to Soudal Quick-Step
Remco Evenepoel has said his last words as a Soudal Quick-Step rider, closing out the only professional home he has known before his switch to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe becomes official on January 1.
“What a journey,” Evenpoel wrote on Instagram. “From being a boy with a dream to becoming a man chasing his dreams.”
It is easy to forget how quickly it all started. A standout junior who moved from football into cycling and immediately looked like an outlier, Evenepoel was picked up straight from the junior categories and turned pro in 2019. Quick-Step backed him early, loudly, and consistently, treating him as a future cornerstone rather of the team.
The results made that faith look obvious in hindsight. During his years with the Belgian squad he won the Vuelta a España, claimed two editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, collected four world titles across road and time trial, and added two Olympic titles. In total, he racked up 67 professional wins in the Quick Step jersey, etching his name into the history books in capital letters.
His Instagram post focused on gratitude. It was accompanied by a carousel of photos spanning his first wins, big podium days, Grand Tour highlights, and the tougher moments he had to fight through.
“There are not enough words to describe the past 7 seasons. The victories, the setbacks, the lessons, the people who supported me... I will forever be grateful,” he said.
Now comes the next step. Evenepoel is joining Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe with one objective above everything else: giving himself the strongest possible path toward a Tour de France win.
Earlier this month his 2026 programme was unveiled, and the priorities were unmistakable, with the Tour as the clear centrepiece while the Giro and the spring Classics were left out.
“It’s a new team and a new environment for me, so this year we should try to get through a normal season,” Evenepoel said when discussing his schedule at the media day. “Then we’ll see later. We discussed it a lot, but for this year it’s important to get back to my level with a normal winter. Last year I missed five or six months because of a crash, so this year I just want a normal season without problems.”
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