ANALYSIS | The return of Remco Evenepoel: What can we expect from the golden boy’s comeback?

On October 12th, 2024, Remco Evenepoel stood on the podium at Il Lombardia, having finished second in the season’s final Monument. At the time, it marked the end of a spectacular year, arguably the finest of his young but already remarkable career. That afternoon, there was every expectation that 2025 would begin just as brightly.

Instead, 188 days have passed since cycling fans last watched Evenepoel race competitively. But the wait is finally over.

This Friday, April 18th, Evenepoel will make his long-awaited return to the peloton at the Brabantse Pijl, a hilly semi-classic that serves as a curtain-raiser to the Ardennes campaign. While questions remain about his form and fitness, there is no doubt: his return is one of the most anticipated moments of the 2025 season.

To understand the weight of his absence, one must first appreciate the brilliance of what came before it. Evenepoel's 2024 season was, in every sense, exceptional.

The Belgian made an historic debut at the Tour de France, where he defied critics who doubted his Grand Tour credentials. Despite having previously won the 2022 Vuelta a España, there were lingering questions about his ability to handle the Tour’s relentless intensity and tactical nuance.

Those doubts weren’t helped by the fact Evenepoel dropped like a stone under the pressure of Visma at the 2023 Vuelta, as the trio of Kuss, Vingegaard and Roglic dominated the podium.

Evenepoel responded with flair, finishing third overall at the Tour in 2024, winning a stage, and claiming the white jersey for best young rider along the way. It was a performance that proved he belonged among cycling's elite stage racers. It also left fans fantasising about the prospect of a battle between Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel in future editions of the Tour.

Then came the Paris Olympics, where Evenepoel made history by winning both the time trial and the road race, the first male cyclist ever to achieve that feat in a single Games. Even Tadej Pogacar would have struggled to have defeated Evenepoel during the Olympic Games road race. In September, he defended his World Time Trial Championship title, reinforcing his position as the most complete time triallist of his generation.

His second-place finish at Il Lombardia closed the season, but for Evenepoel and his team Soudal – Quick-Step, it was a natural pause, not a full stop. The plan was recovery, preparation, and an early start to 2025.

Instead, fans watched the spring unfold without him. A freak accident with a van in a training ride in December saw Evenepoel suffer some nasty injuries. Amongst his battle scars were fractures to his rib, shoulder blade and hand, contusions to his lungs, and several other.

So no, in short, Evenepoel did not have the Christmas his 2024 season had deserved. At a time when he was rumoured to be targeting a Giro-Tour double, and closing the gap to Pogacar, this was exactly what he didn’t need.

Now, 188 days since he last raced, the cycling world prepares to welcome him back at last.

In his absence, cycling has been anything but quiet. But what exactly has happened since we saw the double Olympic champion in action?

Mark Cavendish officially retired, bringing the curtain down on a career that saw him tie and then break the all-time Tour de France stage win record. His farewell was emotional, symbolic, and the end of an era for British cycling.

Mathieu van der Poel won his record-equalling seventh cyclocross world title in February, reminding fans just how much better he is than the rest of the field when it comes to the cross field.

Tom Pidcock stunned the cycling world with a dramatic transfer, leaving INEOS Grenadiers to join Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, citing personal discontent and a desire for change. Few moves in recent years have carried such weight, a star leaving one of cycling’s super-teams to reset elsewhere. Of course, that move has paid off for Pidcock so far this season.

And then there’s the season itself.

We’ve witnessed one of the most thrilling openings to a cycling year in recent memory, a spring campaign defined by the rivalry between Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar, two of the sport’s defining figures. At Milano–Sanremo, Van der Poel bested Pogacar. At the Tour of Flanders, Pogacar struck back. And at Paris–Roubaix, Van der Poel reclaimed the edge with his third consecutive victory, making it 2–1 in their personal duel in 2025.

All of this happened without Evenepoel. And you can bet watching from the sidelines has been brutal for him.

Brabantse Pijl is not a Monument, nor a WorldTour race. But for Evenepoel, it’s the perfect reintroduction. A punchy profile, familiar terrain, and relatively lower pressure than Liège–Bastogne–Liège or La Flèche Wallonne. It allows him to gauge his legs and respond to the rhythm of racing without being thrown into the deep end.

But make no mistake, eyes will be on him, and expectations are always high when it comes to Remco.

The timing is no accident. The Ardennes Classics, which suit Evenepoel’s explosive climbing and solo attacking style, are just around the corner, and these are races he has targeted before. He won Liège–Bastogne–Liège in both 2022 and 2023, and had been expected to return there in top form this year before injury interrupted his plan.

Can he still contend? It’s worth remembering that bouncing back from setbacks is something Evenepoel has done before.

In April 2024, he crashed heavily at the Itzulia Basque Country, fracturing his collarbone and shoulder blade. He underwent surgery and didn’t return until the Dauphiné in June, where he won a stage despite only finishing seventh overall. Once again, critics were quick to write him off ahead of the Tour. But come July, he defied them all with a third-place finish in the general classification, in his Tour debut, no less.

Go back even further to August 2020, and the now infamous crash at Il Lombardia. Then just 20 years old, Evenepoel plunged off a bridge, fracturing his pelvis in a horrifying fall. He did not race again until the 2021 Giro d’Italia, where he made it to Stage 17 before withdrawing. Though that Giro wasn’t a success, it laid the foundation for his later Vuelta and Classic triumphs.

Evenepoel knows how to return. The question, as always, is how long it will take, and how much time he has before the big goals arrive again.

The race may not carry the prestige of the Ardennes Monuments, but Brabantse Pijl is no mere warm-up. With its twisting roads and endless series of sharp climbs, it favours riders who can attack repeatedly, precisely the kind of terrain where Evenepoel has made his name.

It’s a race that could serve two purposes: a test of legs and a psychological signal. If he’s there in the final, it will send a message that his injury layoff hasn’t had any lasting effects. If he wins, the prospect of a battle with Pogacar in Liege becomes even more tantalising.

However, the field is strong. Many riders who have built their spring around one-day races will be eyeing this as a last chance to land a major result. The Belgian fans, meanwhile, will be out in full force, eager to welcome their national hero back after a prolonged absence.

While Brabantse Pijl is the immediate focus, it’s the rest of the season that holds Evenepoel’s greatest ambitions. He will aim for Liège–Bastogne–Liège later this month, followed by a return to stage racing and another tilt at the Tour de France in July.

But this year’s Tour will be different. After finishing third in 2024, the goal now is to go better. That means contending for yellow, and in a year where both Pogacar and Vingegaard are again expected to peak, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The hope, for fans and team alike, is that Evenepoel’s delayed start becomes just a minor footnote in another standout campaign. A slow burn before a summer explosion.

It is true that we are unlikely to see the best of Remco immediately. He will need time to maximise his form, his weight, and his race sharpness. The critics in his home country have proven themselves to be merciless in recent weeks (just ask Wout van Aert), but fans should take 2024 as a reference to see how well Evenepoel can recover from injuries.

Knowing Remco, he will likely not be ‘quiet’ upon his return. But don’t be surprised, or alarmed, if he is dropped in areas he would usually be attacking, as he was in last summer’s Dauphine.

He may also not be at his best for Liege, the monument he has twice won. But come the end of the month, at the Tour de Romandie, we may start to season the Remco we know best.