'We had a good laugh' - Evenepoel and Vermeersch bury hatchet from 2021 incident

In an interview with Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure on Thursday, Vermeersch confirmed the pair laughed off their heated 2021 Tour of Benelux confrontation during a training camp ahead of their first season together with their new team.

"Those are old memories, and Remco and I had a good laugh about it during the team's first training camp," Vermeersch said. "Even today, I maintain that I did nothing wrong. And with his current experience, I think Remco is aware of that too."

The riders' altercation occurred during the 2021 Tour of Benelux when Evenepoel accused Vermeersch of causing a dangerous crash that broke his front wheel, forcing him to lose nearly a minute during a wheel change.

Television cameras captured an angry Evenepoel confronting Vermeersch after the stage, shouting in Dutch, "We're just riding normally in the group and you just come diagonally into me. No need to run away, you should realise your mistake." Vermeersch, now 32, responded mockingly at the time: "That was a mistake on your part."

Evenepoel later appeared to cool down, posting on social media: "Crazy first stage of the Benelux Tour, and in all the action emotions can run high... Tomorrow's a new day and a time trial! Let's go for it."

Both riders are among seven confirmed signings for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's major roster overhaul for 2026, ad they join a Belgian contingent that already includes Jordi Meeus and Maxim Van Gils. 

After spending many years as a valuable and dependable teammate to Mathieu van der Poel at Alpecin-Deceuninck, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will be hoping that Vermeersch can also hit the ground running in terms of connecting with Evenepoel at races, including the Classics and the Tour de France. 

The duo have raced together previously, representing Belgium at the European Championships in 2021, in Trento, Italy, where Evenepoel finished second in a two-up sprint against Sonny Colbrelli.

The German team is also undergoing significant changes behind the scenes, having recently added Allen Peiper, who guided Tadej Pogačar to his first Tour de France victory in 2020. Other notable backroom additions include Zak Dempster, Tony Gallopin, Oliver Cookson, and Evenepoel's trusted associates Sven Vanthourenhout and Klaas Lodewyck.