“He would have finished second anyway” – Remco Evenepoel’s father insists son was Tadej Pogacar's closest Tour challenger, even before Jonas Vingegaard's crash
CyclingTuesday, 15 September 2026 at 21:30
Patrick Evenepoel believes his son Remco would have finished second at the 2026 Tour de France even without the crash that forced Jonas Vingegaard out of the race.
The claim goes directly at a hierarchy that had become one of the constants of the Tour. From 2021 through 2025, every edition ended with Tadej Pogacar and Vingegaard occupying the top two positions in the general classification.
Evenepoel had already joined them on the podium with third place on his Tour debut in 2024. Two years later he went one step higher, finishing runner-up to Pogacar after Vingegaard’s race ended in a stage 15 crash while the Dane was still sitting second overall.
Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogacar on the final podium of the 2026 Tour de France
“He would have finished second anyway”
Asked whether Vingegaard’s withdrawal had ultimately handed Remco second place, Patrick was unwilling to accept that interpretation. "I wouldn’t dare say otherwise. My feeling tells me that he would have finished second anyway,” he told HUMO.
Vingegaard had been Pogacar’s principal Tour rival for years before his 2026 abandonment, winning the race in 2022 and 2023 and finishing second in 2021, 2024 and 2025.
Evenepoel’s previous Tour appearance had reinforced that order. He finished third in 2024 behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, taking his first Tour podium but remaining behind both established leaders over three weeks. His 2026 campaign produced a different result. Evenepoel reached Paris second overall and recorded the best Tour finish of his career, having arrived at the race after a significant change in both team and preparation.
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New team, different Tour preparation
The 2026 Tour was Evenepoel’s first with Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe following his move away from Soudal Quick-Step. Patrick does not portray the improvement as evidence that his son’s former team had been unprofessional, but he does believe the change of surroundings helped. “Sometimes you need a different environment to get better,” he said.
One of the changes came in May with the addition of Tim Heemskerk as Evenepoel’s trainer. After Liege-Bastogne-Liege, rider and team settled on a programme built entirely around July.
Evenepoel did not race again before the Tour. According to Patrick, there was little hesitation when his son was presented with the new approach. “That is why this Tour was so important,” Patrick explained. “Imagine if it hadn’t worked out, there would have been that question mark again. That is gone now.”
Second place also came in the first season of a new project that had asked Evenepoel to change preparation methods rather than simply repeat what had previously taken him to third at the Tour.
Evenepoel has continued winning since July, adding Clasica San Sebastian and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec to his 2026 season before turning his attention towards the World Championships in Montreal.
The Tour podium itself will always carry the unavoidable caveat that Vingegaard never reached Paris. Patrick Evenepoel’s position, however, is unequivocal: his son did not need the Dane’s crash to finish immediately behind Pogacar.
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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- Exactlycaptmike15-09-2026
- She's a pro athlete, I wouldn't care what anyone said. She should race until she's ready to stop and not sooner.awp15-09-2026
- Not a good hire.
Front24215-09-2026 - Stoked for Enric. he seems like a great guy that just puts his head down and goes to work every race. He has had some great results - within meters of challenging Tadej at Lombardia for example. Great to see it all come together for him.mij15-09-2026
- If only…! He’s ruled out a CX return this year, which we’re gutted about since we have a home World Cup in December.anonymouscyclist15-09-2026
- it would be so cool if he could pull that off!Ketterechts15-09-2026
- I trust MVDP and his build up. I would love to see him take this again over the Belgians. They will eat themselves LOL. Watching the Montreal race didn't seem like it was a circuit that would break MVDP.mij15-09-2026
- trash article 'User leaves mean comment on instagram'barnabywinters15-09-2026
- ...that's just it-they wouldn't have to pay for him at all-and I believe he wouldn't fail...Moreover, the current pressure of GC leaders in Lidl - Trek is unbearable-and maybe they would welcome it if they "got rid" of one of them...😉Martin15-09-2026
- I guess we'll see this week where MvdP stands, as he's racing the Tour of Luxembourg. That seems like better prep than hanging around Montreal for two weeks. I assume all the teams are in hotels or rented houses in the Eastern Townships, where you can find plenty of hills similar to Mont Royal. We'll see- the circuit isn't the leg breaker it once was, and it certainly isn't hard enough to force selections.megasmacky15-09-2026
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