Remco Evenepoel's coach highlights crucial balancing act ahead of 2027

Remco Evenepoel will bring his debut campaign with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe to a fitting end with a time trial at the Chrono des Nations on Sunday, having recently won his fourth successive world title in Montréal.

It will mark the end of a busy autumn block of racing for the 26-year-old that included the World and European championships as well as Il Lombardia.

After winning the time trial event in Montréal, the road race didn't go to plan for Evenepoel as he finished 12th. Nonetheless, the Belgian bounced back from the setback to pip Giulio Ciccone to the European title by a photo finish in Slovenia the following week. 

In his first outing as European champion, Evenepoel took a distant fourth at Il Lombardia behind runaway winner Paul Seixas.

Tim Heemskerk, who joined Red Bull in May, having previously served as Jonas Vingegaard’s coach at Visma | Lease a Bike, believes the lessons learned from this fluctuating autumn spell can help Evenepoel take another step forward in 2027. 

“Since the Tour [de France], things have been a bit up and down. Even so, I think he’s shown some truly impressive performances,” Heemskerk told Het Laatste Nieuws. 

Upon his arrival at Red Bull, Heemskerk was immediately tasked with helping Evenepoel prepare for the Tour de France. 

The Belgian had been busy in the spring, making a surprise debut at the Tour of Flanders, where he finished third before winning the Amstel Gold Race and taking third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 

Evenepoel didn’t race between Liège and the team time trial in Barcelona that kicked off the Tour on 4 July, and notably, the Belgian confirmed that he had lost almost 4kg as part of his preparations for the three-week event. 

Heemskerk acknowledged that the demanding build-up paid off, with Evenepoel winning two stages and finishing second overall behind Tadej Pogačar, but also the fact that the effort may also have had consequences later in the campaign.

“The question is: what state was he in afterward, and to what extent did that affect his subsequent performances? Perhaps some lingering fatigue remained,” Heemskerk said. 

“Furthermore, the preparation time for the World Championships, the European Championships, and Il Lombardia was much shorter.”

The challenge of managing Evenepoel’s weight throughout the season for different objectives has also provided both benefits and lessons for the future in the eyes of Heemskerk. 

“Striving for a lower weight following the spring classics was a major challenge, but he handled it perfectly and clearly reaped the benefits during the Tour," he said. 

"That, too, has been a lesson, and an area to focus on for next year: if you want to succeed in this generation, against absolute top-tier riders like Pogačar, as well as Del Toro, Seixas, and others, you have to be spot-on in that regard."

“It’s not easy for a rider who competes at a very high level for eight months straight, but it is a necessity.”

Evenepoel's nutrition was a key component that needed to be nailed correctly, and Heemskerk explained how they were able to ensure that the Belgian could lose weight without sacrificing power.

“The ‘trick’ there was to manage his protein balance effectively, which ensured that, despite his weight loss, he didn’t lose any power,” Heemskerk said. 

“He may have paid a bit of a price for that after the Tour. He naturally regained some weight and became slightly more explosive again, which had an impact, for instance, on his ten-minute climbing efforts in Lombardy.”

Looking ahead, Heemskerk believes there is also scope to make adjustments to Evenepoel’s race calendar next season. 

“Still, we will have to make some specific choices for 2027. Now that he has the European Championship title, one might ask whether, given how close the two championships are to each other, we shouldn’t create more breathing room for a more efficient preparation for Il Lombardia,” Heemskerk said. 

“In other words, adding an extra training block. That could be one potential adjustment. I’m not sure how Remco himself feels about it, but I’m certainly in favour.”

Evenepoel has confirmed that after the Chrono des Nations he will head to the Specialized wind tunnel in California for one final block of work, before a well-deserved holiday. 

Then, alongside Heemskerk and the Red Bull team, Evenepoel will begin his preparations for next season, where he will sport his European champion’s jersey and could potentially make a return to the Giro d'Italia after he left the door open, depending on the route. 

“It’s going to be an interesting winter. I’m really looking forward to being able to build things up with Remco from the very beginning, from A to Z. There will be more time to address specific areas and really focus on them," said Heemskerk.