Remco Evenepoel has a new jersey for Il Lombardia, and there’s a golden touch to go with his European champion’s stars. Call it champagne problems–but the double Olympic champ has won so many damn titles, his team needed to be a bit clever when it came to designing the new kit.
The new jersey with lots of little flourishes
The trim above the rainbow stripes honours his 2024 Olympic title, although Belgian tricolour bands on the sleeves weren’t permitted. (Former world champ on the road…four time world TT champion, former national champ and now, Euro champ. Not a bad little résumé.)
“Unfortunately, that is not allowed because it is the ‘least’ – with all due respect – championship. So, unfortunately, those bands are not permitted,” Evenepoel said, as reported by Sporza..
Getting the design approved took some work, too. The regulations for championship jerseys–especially world and continental ones, are pretty strict. National championships jerseys, depending on which country can be too–but for some countries–like Canada, there’s quite a bit of wiggle room. Which is why you see so many different stylized versions (looking at you and your Hockey Canada kit, Woodsy.)
“There was nothing in the regulations about this jersey, so they had to do a bit of puzzling,” he https://sporza.be/nl/2026/10/09/een-verwijzing-mocht-er-niet-op-remco-evenepoel-glundert-in-unieke-europese-trui-die-extra-zal-motiveren~1791535865808/said. “After pushing a little, they managed to get everything on it.”
Remco Evenepoel unveils his new European Champion jersey ahead of the Il Lombardia 🤩 https://t.co/6ciIUS9OU7
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 9, 2026
Evenepoel took the the European championships that came off a disappointing 12th-place finish at the road worlds. The Belgian was looking to bounce back, and he delivered in style.
Ciccone versus Evenepoel at the Euros
Evenepoel beat Italy’s Giulio Ciccone in a two-close that neither rider knew who had won at the line. It nearly went sideways in the final bend, too, when Evenepoel lost ground and had to dig deep to get back into contention.
Belgium controlled much of the 196.3-km race from Ljubljana to Šenčur, but the decisive action came on the demanding finishing circuits. With five times up the Možjanca climb, averaging around 10 per cent over 2.1 km, the course was never going to hand just anyone the title.
Ciccone attacked with about 36 km remaining, and Evenepoel followed. The pair looked destined to fight for gold until the Belgian crashed on a descent, briefly leaving Ciccone alone. Evenepoel recovered, rejoined him, and the two built a winning gap. The Italian seemed to have the race wrapped up after the double Olympic champ screwed up the final corner–but somehow the Belgian came around him in a photofinish.
As far as Il Lombardia, Evenepoel is definitely one of the favourites. You can watch it on Saturday on FloBikes.com starting at 9:00 a.m. EDT.