A project built around time trial development“I have been asked by Remco and his father to advise their young talents on time trials,” Verbrugghe explained to Wielerflits. “Remco is a through and through time trialist, so it is not illogical that the team fully invests in that area. What Remco can do, we want to pass on to the young talents. They must know how to approach a chrono properly so they can compete at the highest level in the future. The Belgian federation has promoted this for longer, which is why we have so many strong time triallists in our country.”The Evenepoel family’s choice to involve him is hardly surprising. With five time trial victories in his career (Belgian national championships, Giro d’Italia, Tour de Romandie, Eneco Tour and Critérium International) Verbrugghe has proven experience in the discipline, and he continued developing it within every team he later joined.
“There is also a personal link with Evenepoel,” Verbrugghe recalled. “I was the first coach to ever take Remco to a World Championships. In Yorkshire he immediately earned his first pro selection with the national team, because I believed in him. I know the family very well, ever since they were young. We have always stayed in good contact. I think Remco, through his own experiences, now knows my approach with young riders well enough.”
After a quiet 2025 as a general manager at cyclocross team Ridley, Verbrugghe realised he missed being embedded in the road race environment. “I have missed being in close contact with athletes, and being able to do my thing at the races. The fact that I can work with many young riders and that this team also has a social project attached made it even easier to take this step.”
Guiding young riders “from zero to hero”
His decision was not taken lightly, and he also announced that he will collaborate with other teams formed by young and inexperienced riders. “I have decided that in 2026 I will try to pass my experience on to the Belgian youth. Not only for this team, by the way. I will also give advice to the Walloon Pierre et Sol-OG Cycles,” he said. “Ultimately, everything begins with good youth development. Especially the junior category has become very important nowadays. Sometimes I find that unfortunate.”
“A rider who does not perform as a junior is almost always written off when it comes to earning a professional contract. It has come to the point where the junior category must be handled in a super professional way to ever be able to grow into a major team. I want to help with that. Teams like Soudal Quick-Step, Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe and Decathlon AG2R do it internally, but not everyone is immediately at that level. With our team you can grow ‘from zero to hero’ with the right steps,” he explained.
A gradual pathway is crucial, he insists, as not every rider develops at the same pace. “I will never say that all riders have to go into a wind tunnel at a young age. It is important that everyone can take the right steps at the right moment. Here we work with riders from 15 to 19 years old. You cannot treat a 15-year-old the same way as a 19-year-old who has a chance to be selected for a World Championships time trial. For the latter, every detail makes the difference.”
Remco Evenepoel’s first professional victory came when he was just 19 years old
What Verbrugghe will bring
What concrete support will he offer? “That can range from coaching advice on how to approach their time trial, to helping find the right bike position and determining which training sessions they should do at home on the training bike. It is very important that you have that bike fully under control. Among juniors there is still a lot of progress to be made. In my opinion this is still done too little in that category.”
Verbrugghe has been closely tied to cycling for the past 30 years. He started his professional career in 1996 riding for Lotto, team in which he stayed until 2004. After a short 1-year stint with Quickstep, he moved to Cofidis, which was his last team before retiring in 2008.
In 2012, he began his experience as an assistant sports director with BMC. He switched to several other teams in the following years, including IAM Cycling, Bahrain Merida and Israel – Premier Tech. He also led the Belgian national team between 2019 and 2021.