Remco Evenepoel had a rocky 2025 season, starting only in April due to extensive injuries he suffered in a crash back in December; and then having another crash at the national championships derail his Tour de France preparation. The Olympic Champion has explained in more detail what went wrong at the Grand Boucle however.The Belgian is leaving Soudal – Quick-Step for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe this winter and the move was motivated by the Belgian team’s move back into classics focus whilst Evenepoel eyes the Grand Tours and stronger support overall. With the German team he is certain to have it, due to its large budget and already existing wide array of top performers.

But logistics wise, he also notices the difference. “Let me give you an example: they booked hotel rooms on Mount Teide for the entire spring three or four months ago. That wasn’t the case at Soudal Quick-Step. There, it was more freestyle: okay, we’re going there for a training camp now.” The better organization works for Evenepoel, who says he will enter 2026 with his schedule virtually fully defined. He also looked for a change after many years with the same structure and coach, hopeful that he can improve even further:

“During the first conversations, it became clear that bringing a trainer along wasn’t an option. I had to think about that for a while. I started working with Koen [Pelgrim] in the summer of 2018. We worked together for a long time and achieved fantastic results. But maybe now’s the time, if I want to develop further, to look for someone else who can help me improve in certain aspects.”

Tour de France 

With the Giro d’Italia route being unvealed tomorrow, we will learn more about Evenepoel’s ambitions. If he races the Giro, then he will have a more reduced spring calendar. If he does not, then we should see him at Milano-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders before aiming for his traditional goals.

It is an interesting proposition, and one that should be answered within the next few days. But the Tour de France is never in question, as long as he has his health: “There’s a 99% chance I’ll be at the start”. Evenepoel also explained what went wrong at last year’s edition, where he started off strong, but later on cracked in the Pyrenees with several bad days in a row – eventually abandoning the race.

“That broken rib at the Belgian Championships was a minor issue, but the training sessions that weren’t going as planned were difficult,” he explains. “I had to quit every interval training session after five, six, or seven minutes, while I should have been doing a block of fifteen or twenty minutes”.

This certainly limited his form, but it was the feeling he got entering the key days of the Tour that really made an impact. “At some point, I got that severe fatigue again. I slept poorly and had no appetite. And then it’s ruined in a Grand Tour.” At the time the overall feeling of fatigue was evident as he fell through the group of favourites on the Col du Tourmalet, where he ended his Tour.