Remco Evenepoel has hinted that he may broaden his spring schedule in 2026, and Johan Museeuw is all for it. The former Classics star says Evenepoel has the talent to take every major classic on the calendar — and that only the Tour de France and Paris–Roubaix are missing from his palmarès.
Evenepoel has already passed two draft race plans to Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe management. One leans into the classics before the Tour de France; the other pairs the Giro d’Italia with the Tour). If the Giro drops off the table, he could finally dip a toe into Milan–San Remo or the Tour of Flanders — “as long as it doesn’t compromise the ideal build-up to the Tour,” he said to Het Laatste Nieuws.
Museeuw said he hopes Evenepoel chooses the classics-plus-Tour path. He recalled meeting a young Evenepoel during his first pro season in Livigno — Museeuw wearing a T-shirt with all five Monuments printed on it. “I told you that you could win every one of those races,” Museeuw said. “And you shot back that Flanders and Roubaix weren’t goals. I was stunned. But I’ll repeat it now: all the great classics are within your reach. You’re lucky — you can pick from so many races you’re capable of winning. The Tour sits at the top, just ahead of Worlds. But if you want the full palmarès… the Tour and Roubaix are the ones that complete it. Pogacar didn’t shy away from that.”
Evenepoel admits he has put the idea in front of the team. He’d like the chance to “explore a bit more of the classic spring,” if the schedule allows. He joked that if Museeuw insists, “I won’t have much choice but to try, right?”
He’s not promising it will happen immediately — “maybe not this year,” he said. “But someday. I’d be quicker in Milan–San Remo or Flanders than in Roubaix, I think. Those two fit me better, and they’re easier to blend with the Ardennes.”
Evenepoel will join Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe this winter as one of the team’s leading riders. However, if he will take the start in the 2026 Tour de France remains undecided.
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s Zakkari Dempster said “We are looking at the parcours with the general classification in mind. But there are also plenty of stages that suit our racing style and the strengths of many of our riders.”
“Pogačar can sustain an acceleration longer than anyone else. For several minutes, he can push twenty, thirty, even forty watts above the rest, then it settles back to a more ‘normal’ level,” Sven Vanthourenhout, directeur sportif of the German team, said.
Evenepoel has said he wants to improve in this area. “It’s up to my new coach to find a solution,” the Belgian said.