Remco Evenepoel reveals 30-second advantage that could transform his 2027 Tour de France bid

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leader has identified next year's route as particularly well suited to his strengths, with 71 kilometres of individual time trialling offering opportunities to take time on his general classification rivals.

And following extensive development work with Specialized, Evenepoel is convinced his equipment could make a considerable difference.

“I really believe that on long TTs and on certain TTs with a lot of high-speed sections that I just gained 30 seconds purely off the bike,” he told the Specialized Bicycle Components Podcast.

“Because it's really a big, big improvement compared to the previous bike.”

The 26-year-old was speaking during a visit to Specialized's headquarters in Morgan Hill, California, where he has been working in the wind tunnel ahead of the new season.

His confidence comes partly from the handling improvements of the latest Shiv, which he experienced during the technical course at this year's World Championships.

“In cornering, I was super confident. The bike was super stable under me,” Evenepoel explained.

The 30-second figure remains his own estimate rather than a verified time saving, but it could prove significant on a Tour route featuring two lengthy individual time trials.

The Belgian has already studied the 2027 Tour parcours, which includes a 38-kilometre time trial and another test of approximately 33 kilometres around Toulouse.

Both have caught his attention.

The opening time trial features long straights and rolling terrain, while the Toulouse course is largely flat before a short climb. Evenepoel believes both should play to his strengths.

“That's really something that should suit me,” he said of the first test.

His ambitions extend beyond adding two more stage victories to his record. Evenepoel sees an opportunity to put pressure on his rivals before the race reaches its most demanding terrain.

“We need to make like a kind of a straight strategy to arrive to those TTs as fresh as possible,” he explained, adding that he wants to “drop the hammer big time” and see what the resulting time gaps mean for the general classification.

“It shows that I can take nice little advantage before going in the Alps,” Evenepoel said, explaining that starting the mountains with time in hand could also provide some psychological comfort.

The relatively limited number of summit finishes is another reason for his optimism.

“With those TTs and with the little bit more punchy stages in the beginning and what is it, like, only three summit finishes? It's something that is fitting me better than having 10 summit finishes, for example,” he explained.

Yet Evenepoel insists the biggest gains must come from his own physical development.

Despite finishing second in the 2026 Tour de France, he believes there is still a considerable gap between his best individual performances and the level he can consistently reproduce across three weeks.

He pointed to his dominant time trial victories at the World Championships and Chrono des Nations as examples of performances he wants to replicate during Grand Tours.

“What is now the very good is what I would like to have as this is my standard,” he explained.

Evenepoel wants to turn those exceptional performances into something he can deliver throughout a three-week race, rather than on selected days.

“I think those two days were my best days in the Tour,” he said of his stage victory and time trial win in 2026. “So that should become my standard. And then from there on, having those super days.”

He believes he has already made progress in that respect. After an injury-disrupted preparation the previous winter, Evenepoel enjoyed a considerably more consistent 2026 season, suffering just two relatively minor crashes.

Looking back on his first season at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Evenepoel gave himself an eight out of ten. While his Tour performances provided plenty of encouragement, he admitted his results in the Monuments had not always matched his expectations.

“I was good, but not exactly where I wanted to be. I was not always able to fight for a win,” he said.

His third place on his Tour of Flanders debut was a different story, however.

“For Flanders, third place was like a victory, honestly,” Evenepoel said. “It was my first participation. Didn't know what to expect.”

He had managed to stay with Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel until the first ascent of the Paterberg, eventually losing contact with the pair.

But it is the Tour that now occupies his thoughts. The Belgian believes his 2026 performances showed he can compete at a higher level over three weeks, even if he still needs to improve his consistency against the best climbers.

“If I'm on a really, really good day, I think I can be up there and I don't have to be scared,” he said.

The challenge for 2027 is making sure those days come around more often.