Remco Evenepoel and the Tour of Flanders rumour that refused to die

We had been there before. In the Spring of 2023, with Soudal Quick-Step labouring in the cobbled Classics, there were murmurs that Remco Evenepoel would be parachuted into their line-up for the Tour of Flanders. The rumour was only definitively debunked when Evenepoel, then preparing for a tilt at the Giro d’Italia, decamped to Tenerife for a spot of altitude training a few days before the Ronde. 

Evenepoel’s move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe last winter prompted a fresh round of Remco to the Ronde rumours, and the rider himself acknowledged last November that a debut was being seriously considered. 

But when Evenepoel was formally presented as a Red Bull rider at the team’s media day in Mallorca in December, the Tour of Flanders was conspicuously absent from his programme. Evenepoel himself insisted that he would not ride the Ronde as he wanted what he called a “normal” first year at Red Bull as he built towards the Tour de France.

Even then, the rumour never quite died. When Evenepoel, perhaps affected by his crash, fell short of contending with Jonas Vingegaard at last week’s Volta a Catalunya, it was suggested that he might respond to that setback by lining up at the Tour of Flanders.

“I know people would like to see me there,” Evenepoel told Het Laatste Nieuws. “But it’s not for this year. My programme stays the same.”

Red Bull manager Ralph Denk also dismissed the idea that Evenepoel would ride this year’s Tour of Flanders, insisting that it was not the right time for his leader to tackle the race. “Remco is still only 26, he has ten years ahead of him,” Denk said.

Those statements still weren’t enough to quench all the speculation. Speaking on RTLSports on Tuesday, Evenepoel’s old teammate Philippe Gilbert called on him to ride the Tour of Flanders, pointing out that Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had been the outstanding team of the cobbled Classics so far, albeit with a glaring gap in their armoury.

“They’re simply missing a big favourite, a rider capable of winning, and Evenepoel is the man for the job,” said Gilbert. “And I know that Remco and his father Patrick are watching us...”

Gilbert proceeded to make an appeal directly to camera. “Remco, listen. You’re in great form and I’m more than convinced of your ability in one-day races, you’ve shown that multiple times in your career,” the 2017 Tour of Flanders winner said. “You train regularly on the Tour of Flanders course, so you know it and I think you could do great things. Your team needs you on Sunday.”

Later on Tuesday, Wielerflits went a step further, reporting that there was a “high probability” that Evenepoel would line out at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. According to the Dutch website, Evenepoel was set to join the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad for its route reconnaissance on Thursday, with a final decision on his participation to come afterwards. 

On Tuesday evening, however, Het Nieuwsblad poured cold water on that report. According to the Belgian newspaper, Red Bull’s recon would not take place until Friday and Evenepoel is not in the team’s ten-rider long list, while the rider’s entourage reportedly described reports of his participation as “an early April Fool’s joke.”

After weighing up the probabilities, Het Nieuwsblad felt that Evenepoel’s Ronde debut would not be this year, concluding: “The chances are slim that the Olympic champion will actually show up in Antwerp on Sunday.”

At the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen in Roselaere on Wednesday, an apologetic Sven Vanthourenhout told Domestique that he was unable to comment on the rumours linking Evenepoel with a Tour of Flanders debut.

Just two hours later, the rumours turned into reality.

What had been denied, dismissed and debated in equal measure was ultimately overtaken by events.