Remco Evenepoel‘s professional career has always been on a fast track and so it is no surprise that he was ultimately tempted by the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe‘s riches and opportunities so he can ride for a team with proven Tour de France credentials, ambitions and a budget to fund it all.
Evenepoel has yet to prove he can really challenge Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) but he wants to give himself the best possible chance in the next few years and position himself for the post-Pogačar Tour, which could begin as soon as 2029.
Evenepoel has always been tempted by Ralph Denk’s offers and always seemed to want more. Now he has his chance, even if he had to buy his way out of his final year with Soudal-QuickStep.
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Lefevere gets there first
Remco Evenepoel enjoys victory at the 2019 Baloise Belgium Tour (Image credit: Getty Images)
Evenepoel quit a teenage career in professional football for professional cycling and was a double junior World Champion in Innsbruck in 2018. It was only natural that he immediately turned professional and Patrick Lefevere got his signature before any other WorldTour team, including Ineos Grenadiers.
“I will watch over your son as if he were my own,” Lefevere told Evenepoel’s parents.
Evenepoel made his pro debut at the Vuelta a San Juan Internacional in Argentina in 2019 and won the Belgium Tour on home roads a few months later. A new star was born in Belgian cycling.
Yet in 2021 Lefevere struggled to find sufficient sponsorship for his team, sparking Denk’s first attempt to sign Evenepoel.
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Lefevere played out his defence in the media, as he so often liked to do, revealing Denk offered Evenepoel a five-year deal and that he even tried to buy the Belgian team. Lefevere responded by flying to see Evenepoel and offer his own five-year deal. Evenepoel was still only 21 at the time and recovering from Il Lombardia injuries. He opted to sign the deal.
“A true wolf never leaves the pack,” Evenepoel wrote on Twitter, now X. “Hopefully, we can realize our big dreams together here.”
Lefevere secured funding from Soudal, QuickStep and Specialized and began to transform his team from a Classics squad to Grand Tour contenders to fuel Evenepoel’s Grand Tour hopes. The experienced team manager had kept the biggest talent and star of the sport he had ever managed but it would cause him years of headaches and ultimately lead to him retiring in 2025.
2022 began well, Evenepoel won the Vuelta a España and everyone in the team was happy, as the sport emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Evenepoel began to focus on his career goal of winning all three Grand Tours and quickly realised he needed a team to back his dreams. That’s where the first tension arose.
Evenepoel opted to be represented by his father Patrick rather than an established rider agent. Patrick is a former pro rider but has little legal and business experience. He soon began to express his son’s frustrations via the Flemish media, creating the first cracks in their Evenepoel-Soudal-QuickStep relationship.
The Evenepoel’s wanted more Grand Tour riders in the team but Soudal and QuickStep could and would not provide more funding as WorldTour costs and sponsorship exploded.
In September 2023 a merger with Jumbo-Visma suddenly seemed possible, with the Dutch team keen to cannibalise their Belgian rivals to sign Evenepoel. Ineos Grenadiers also showed their interest, tempting Evenepoel even more.
The merger deal eventually fell apart, with Evenepoel staying on Specialized bikes and promising loyalty to Soudal-QuickStep on the steps of the team bus after Il Lombardia. Denk had to find a compromise solution and signed Primož Rogličc from Jumbo-Visma. He did not shy away from tempting the Slovenian away with a big contract offer and significant get out fee.
“The team continues, so I will stay,” Evenepoel said, putting an end to the transfer and merger speculation.
“There were a few difficult moments, but next year we’ll go for it,” he said, with the Tour de France the major goal.
“We are going to try to build and perform in the races when we have to. I have no reason to be dissatisfied here. We are going to get the most out of it.”
Tour de France ambitions
Gold medalist Remco Evenepoel of Team Belgium stands on the podium after winning the elite men’s individual time trial at the 2024 UCI World Championships in Zurich (Image credit: Getty Images)
As Evenepoel began 2024, ambitious to show himself at the Tour, with Mikel Landa as a new teammate and Grand Tour wingman, Denk’s ambitions and desire to sign Evenepoel also changed.
He was mysteriously absent from the team’s Mallorca camp and media day in January because he was in California sealing a deal to sell a majority stake of his team to Red Bull.
The Energy drink was revealed before the Tour de France and Denk suddenly needed to lift his team’s ambitions even higher. Evenepoel’s third place, time trial stage win and charisma as a star of the sport was enough to convince him to chase the Belgian one more time.
With Red Bull on board, money was no longer an issue and Evenepoel’s contract was nearer its conclusion. Under Belgian law, he would only have to pay a year’s salary to terminate the deal a year early. The final deal is reported to have cost Denk a €2 million fee plus an annual salary of €5 million.
Soudal-QuickStep tried to stop any deal even in 2024, but it was only a matter of time.
Evenepoel confirmed he would stay at Soudal-QuickStep for 2024 while at the Road World Championships in Zurich but he was not happy. His relationship with Lefevere and the team had already broken down and even the arrival of Jorgen Foré as the new team manager could do little to limit the damage.
Foré tried to steady the ship but fighting off Denk and Red Bull was an almost impossible task. The German team manager worked quietly and confidently, sure he could finally convince Evenepoel away from Soudal-QuickStep. Any talks with Evenepoel and his father were held secretly, with little emerging even in the well-informed and headline hungry Flemish media.
A deal done quietly
Evenepoel spent the first four months of 2025 recovering from his training crash and shoulder injury. It also gave him time to decide and plot his future away from Soudal-QuickStep.
Foré fought publicly to the very end, even denying talk of a deal during the Tour de France, but he wisely began to use the funds from the Evenepoel transfer to rebuild Soudal-QuickStep as a Classics team.
Jasper Stuyven is the first of seven expected signings. They also have sprinter Tim Merlier, Mikel Landa and Mont Ventoux stage winner Valentin Paret-Peintre. No one can ever fill Evenepoel’s shoes but perhaps there is life even without Evenepoel.
“After taking some time to consult with our sponsors and partners, the team’s ownership and management have decided that it is in the best interest of everyone to agree that Remco can move at the end of the current 2025 season.,” Soudal-Quickstep said in their statement on Tuesday, solemnly announcing Evenepoel’s departure.
“We strongly believe in the team spirit that earned us the title of the Wolfpack and we will continue to strive to be a collective that is stronger than any one individual. We would like to place on record our thanks to our sponsors and partners that have supported us throughout this process and will continue to do so in the future.”
Denk was far more upbeat in Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s announcement.
“Remco stands for ambition. He doesn’t just want to ride – he wants to shape cycling,” Denk said.
“He brings not only exceptional athletic talent, but also a remarkable mindset. His determination, professionalism, and relentless drive to succeed are truly inspiring.”
Incredibly Lefevere fell silent, hiding behind an Instagram post saying he was not allowed to comment.
He perhaps has a lot to say but nothing can stop Evenepoel’s move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Evenepoel announced his transfer by simply reposting Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s announcement. The line on the mock-up of Red Bull’s the Red Bulletin magazine was simple but direct: “Talk is over. A new era begins”.
Four years of transfer talk and temptation were over. Evenepoel will ride for Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2026 and beyond.
Cyclingnews will cover all of the 2026 cycling transfers from around the men’s and women’s pelotons with news, analysis, and an updated transfer index, to make sure you don’t miss a thing this transfer season.