'The door is open, yes' - Remco Evenepoel considers Giro return in 2027

Remco Evenepoel is in Italy to chase victory at Il Lombardia on Saturday, but as one season draws to a close, it’s only natural to start projecting forward to the new year. 

As Evenepoel’s press conference near Orio al Serio airport drew to a close on Friday afternoon, the newly crowned European champion was asked if he might be willing to field “an off-topic question.” 

Evenepoel couldn’t resist a quip – “No, I’m not changing teams,” he deadpanned – but he knew that an Italian audience like this was always going to seek an answer to an Italian question.

New Giro d’Italia director Luca Guercilena has already hinted that he will add more time trialling kilometres to the route in 2027, which naturally lends to speculation that Evenepoel might be tempted to return. He last rode the Giro in 2023, when he was forced out by COVID-19 while wearing the maglia rosa. 

“The door is open, yes,” said Evenepoel. “I think we will wait for the parcours and then see what comes out. But, I mean, it’s a race that I had to leave in the pink jersey, which was really painful, so there is for sure a door open – but that doesn't mean that I am starting. 

“The door is open to look at the parcours, and then we’ll see in the winter if I will step into the open door or not.”

Last winter, Evenepoel teased a return to the Giro, but he ultimately opted to focus on the Tour de France in his debut season at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, placing second overall behind Tadej Pogačar. After a series of delays, RCS Sport didn’t present the 2026 Giro route until early December, whereas this year’s presentation is already fixed for November 3 in Rome.

“That’s good. It helps,” Evenepoel said. “The start of November is really cool, because last year it was quite late, I remember. It’s nice that they make it a bit earlier.”

Evenepoel left Soudal Quick-Step for Red Bull last year with an aim to bolster his prospects of one day winning the Tour, and on Friday, he declared himself satisfied that the transfer had already borne fruit in that department in 2026. The Belgian won two stages, including a mountaintop finish at Plateau de Solaison, en route to second overall in Paris.

“The biggest learning we had was my stable Tour de France, the way I kind of grew in the race and I was still on a very good level in the third week,” Evenepoel said when looking back at his debut season with Red Bull.

“I think the biggest improvement we made is in terms of Grand Tours. That’s something that we will take for the future and to me it was a big motivation to keep going for the Grand Tours. Okay, we know that Jonas [Vingegaard] crashed, but in the final result, there was only one guy ahead. The victory was quite close, but not super close, so that’s something that motivates me and the team as well to keep dreaming.”