Evenepoel joins Pogacar and Van der Poel for blockbuster Tour of Flanders

The Olympic Champion wasn’t initially set to ride the Tour of Flanders, according to the provisional schedule that was made public at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s media day in Mallorca in December. 

Evenepoel himself stated that he would not ride the Ronde since he wanted to have a “normal” first year at the German team as he built towards the Tour de France, having spent his whole career prior with Soudal Quick-Step.

However, the announcement that Evenepoel will in fact make his debut at the Ronde was made on social media on Wednesday with the simple caption, “Flanders, are you ready?”

Evenepoel most recently pinned a number on at the Volta a Catalunya last week, where he crashed in the final kilometre on the third stage after being on the attack with Jonas Vingegaard. 

In the end, Evenepoel battled his way to 5th overall, and murmurs began to float around suggesting he might respond to that setback by lining up in Antwerp on Sunday.

In terms of what this means for the Tour of Flanders line-up, Evenepoel jumps right towards the top of the billing. Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel have naturally drawn all the attention as the duo have shared seventeen out of the last nineteen Monuments and World Championships. 

One of those two races that neither won was Evenepoel’s defence of his title in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023, after Pogačar crashed out. 

Evenepoel has raced two of the five Monuments since turning professional in 2019, and he has a good track record, winning Liège twice in three starts, while he has finished runner-up in the last two editions of Il Lombardia behind Tadej Pogačar.

His debut at Flanders adds another intriguing plot element to one of the most significant days on the racing calendar.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe CEO Ralph Denk explained that Evenepoel's participation had been long-planned, and that the team had prepared to keep the announcement a secret until just a few days before the race itself.

"The connection between Remco and the Tour of Flanders is deep and emotional. A plan like this does not come together overnight. We deliberately kept it under the radar to create a special moment for the fans – revealing it as a surprise on April 1," said Denk in an official press release from the team.

"The fact that we were able to keep this internal for more than 100 days speaks to the cohesion and unity of this team."

The provisional Red Bull line-up also includes Jarrad Drizners, Laurence Pithie, Jan Tratnik, Mick and Tim van Dijke, as well as Gianni Vermeersch.