From Pogacar to Vingegaard to Evenepoel? Giro d’Italia reportedly set to welcome another generational star in 2027 as Belgian looks to settle unfinished business
CyclingThursday, 17 September 2026 at 10:40
The Giro d’Italia has welcomed Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard onto its start line in the space of three years, and Remco Evenepoel could now be the next of cycling’s biggest Grand Tour names to turn his attention towards Italy.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Evenepoel has begun looking ahead to 2027 and has shown interest in returning to the Giro, four years after his last appearance.
No final decision has yet been made and Gazzetta stresses that the race remains an idea and possible scenario rather than a confirmed part of his programme, but the prospect would bring him back to a Grand Tour he has twice started and twice left unfinished.
Since his last Giro appearance in 2023, Evenepoel has twice stood on the Tour de France podium, finishing third on debut in 2024 before improving to second this summer behind Pogacar. Alongside his 2022 Vuelta a Espana victory, the Giro remains the only Grand Tour in which he has neither reached the final finish nor stood on the overall podium.
Remco Evenepoel finished runner-up to Tadej Pogacar at the 2026 Tour de France
Two Giro starts, two unfinished campaigns
Evenepoel’s first Giro came in 2021 and was also his first race for almost nine months after the horrific crash at Il Lombardia the previous August. It doubled as the first Grand Tour of his career, yet he still reached the opening rest day sitting second overall before his lack of racing began to show deeper into the race.
His GC challenge faded in the mountains and his Giro eventually ended after a crash on stage 17, closing a debut that had already exceeded expectations given the circumstances of his return.
By the time he came back in 2023, the situation was completely different. Evenepoel arrived as a Vuelta winner and reigning world champion, one of the principal favourites for the Maglia Rosa, and immediately justified that status by dominating the opening time trial on the Costa dei Trabocchi.
After temporarily losing the race lead, he reclaimed pink by winning the stage 9 time trial in Cesena. Hours later, a positive Covid test forced him to withdraw while leading the general classification. Those two appearances remain his only Giro starts.
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Pogacar and Vingegaard have already taken their turn
Pogacar made his long-awaited Giro debut in 2024 and dominated the race, winning six stages and the general classification by almost 10 minutes before going on to complete the Giro-Tour double later that summer.
The 2025 edition produced a far more open race, with Simon Yates eventually overturning Isaac del Toro on the penultimate stage after a GC battle that also involved Richard Carapaz, Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso.
Vingegaard then made his Giro debut this season after years in which his Grand Tour calendar had largely revolved around the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. He left Italy with the Maglia Rosa and became only the eighth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours.
Evenepoel already has one part of that collection after winning the Vuelta in 2022, while his performances in France have continued to move in the other direction. Third at the Tour in 2024 became second in 2026, with only Pogacar above him on the final podium.
A return to Italy would therefore come without any suggestion that his Tour ambitions have disappeared. He would instead be going back to the Grand Tour where his previous two attempts ended before the race had reached its conclusion.
Strongest season yet with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
The report also comes towards the end of an outstanding first season with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. Evenepoel started the year by winning in Mallorca, followed that with overall victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and later added Amstel Gold Race to a spring that also included third at the Tour of Flanders and another podium at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
His Tour brought the best Grand Tour result of his career since winning the Vuelta. Evenepoel finished second overall behind Pogacar and took two stage victories, improving on the third place he achieved on his debut two years earlier.
He then added another Clásica San Sebastián victory before returning to competition in Canada this month, where he won the Grand Prix de Québec and finished fifth in Montreal.
Evenepoel’s immediate attention remains on the World Championships, with the individual time trial and road race both still to come before his season moves towards its final races. After that, attention will begin shifting properly towards 2027. Four years after Covid ended his last Giro while he was wearing pink, Italy is once again appearing in his plans.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- and concurrently is working on excuses to have ready if he doesn't win.mij17-09-2026
- he almost has to be the favorite for Lombardia.mij17-09-2026
- What no points for MTB world championship???? Wow poor Tom best alrounder out there and still loses a placepaultryan200217-09-2026
- For the time being, Pogi is taking things "step by step" ... next year, in the spring of 2027, he will stomp over everyone... except Remco. Patrick Evenepoel, Remco's father, is insinuating his son will beat Pogi in most of the races next year. This year he put Jonas Vingegaard in a box, next year it's Pogi's turn. Remco the G.O.A.T. !!!! ... not ...PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- Remco's daddy Patrick Evenepoel is already saying: "My son Remco will win the Giro. 100%."PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- OK, here are the facts: Fact 1: Remco officially finished second to Pogi. Fact 2: Vingegaard was second when he crashed and had to abandon. Fact 3: Remco therefore inherited second place. Fact 4: Remco had ridden an excellent Tour and beaten Pogi on Stage 15!?!? Well, officially he "beat him"... but Pogi gave him an early christmas gift. We all know it. It's not established that Remco would definitely have beaten Vingegaard over the remaining stages. His daddy Patrick should know better and is a fool believing his son Remco would have done so anyway. That's his personal delusional assessment, not something the race proved. He should know better. I guess we can say "like father, like son." There is a reasonable argument that Remco had improved substantially in 2026 and could have challenged Vingegaard for second. But saying he would have finished second in any case is utterly foolish. Daddy Patrick is entitled to his confidence, but “he would have been second anyway” is a delusional belief fact. I just can't understand the Evenepoel family... Remco already has enough criticism and backlash because of his "big mouth"... it's quicker than his brain, but why is his father making things even worse. Why?PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- I was also sad we didn't get to see a battle between Jonas and Remco. Remco saying exactly what he's thinking has become part of his brand,; the media would criticise Pog if he did the same, so he has been taught how to react. What I find strange is that Remco's father's opinion is treated as news. I guess that's understandable in Belgjum, and sites like this just repeat it for clicks.Hills3317-09-2026
- Yes. Yes it is 😂anonymouscyclist17-09-2026
- No, it's an advert for the G.O.A.T. !!! Every once in a while we have to let people know who Pogi is. Fools, also on this site, tend to forget that fact and then you read BS like: "OMG, Mas caught Pogi on a little hill, he's better than Pog." ... "MVDP and Van Aert beat Pogi in Paris Roubaix, they are No.1 cyclists, Pogi is only No.2" ... "Remco is a better all around cyclist than Pogi." etc. etc. PS: Don't insult my intelligence... and get a life.PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- He is the father not expected to give an unbiased opinion. For all his talents, Remco is a Primadonna as see from his latest temper tantrum vented on some lowly(in his opinion) rider in the Canadian races but when it comes to Pogi , he becomes a sycophant, a no balls Remco.abstractengineer17-09-2026
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