"I hope for the same with Remco": Denk hopes to recreate the 'Sagan era' with the superstar signing

It's taken quite some years, but Ralph Denk succeeded in signing Remco Evenepoel. The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe manager is confident that with the Belgian on-board, his team is finally ready to take over the cycling scene and win the Tour de France. In a finite time frame, at least.

"That's not all. I know: Remco wants to win the Tour. And so do we. But it's so much more," Denk tells Het Nieuwsblad about the decision, or perhaps passion, to go as far as to buy Evenepoel out of the last year of his contract at Soudal - Quick-Step. And even though results are primary focus, there are many other benefits, he outlines:

"I compare it to Peter Sagan. He won a lot for us too. But Peter was above all the face of the team. He gave our team credibility. In his slipstream, many guys were able to develop: Bennett, Ackermann, Schachmann suddenly won Paris-Nice twice, Buchmann finished fourth in the Tour. Sagan was our front man. Nobody asked about the others. But those others started winning in his shadow. That's why Peter was such a smart investment back then. I hope for the same with Remco. For example: he's going to take a lot of pressure off Lipowitz."

Would have Denk pushed so actively to sign Evenepoel had they known year in advance that Florian Lipowitz would go on to podium the Tour? "Yes," he declares without hesitation. "Remco was already on our radar when Sagan was still riding here."

"Look: Lipowitz is a very good rider. I'll never forget our first meeting, in a coffee shop across the street from where we're sitting now. He was coming from the biathlon and had come by bike, over a hundred kilometers in total. A cool story."

"But Lipowitz isn't a world champion. And he's not an Olympic champion. Everything Remco is, more than once. They might be the same age, but Remco is much further along. In personality, in his dealings with the media and partners. Besides: now everyone's talking about Florian, but if I had told you a year ago that he was such a great talent, would you have believed me?"

"One-on-one? Honestly, I don't know. I'm not a sports scientist. You have to ask other people on the team. What I do know is that those people are absolutely convinced they can make Remco even better."

Denk sees Evenpoel's age (recently turned 26) as an advantage over Pogacar (27) and Vingegaard (29). "Pogacar and Vingegaard are both older than him. Look at history. Armstrong, Indurain, Merckx: even for the biggest superstars, one day it's over. Suddenly, the tank is empty. Then Remco will have to be ready."

After Cian Uijtdebroeks and Primoz Roglic, Evenepoel becomes already Red Bull's third chosen rider to finally win the Tour de France.

"It's going fast, yes. But there are also reasons... Cian himself decided to seek out a different environment back then. Even though we supported him more than a hundred percent. If you ask him today, he'll agree. We really did everything for him. Incidentally, I recently saw a video and noticed that he still has the same cycling position we developed with him back then. That speaks volumes."

"And about Primoz: well, it's no secret that he's no longer 29. I say that with all due respect. I still support his transfer. After all, he won a Grand Tour (2024 Vuelta, ed.) for us."

Remco was sighted riding up and down some of the famous Tour of Flanders sectors the past off-season, immediately sparking debate about whether we could see the Belgian star join Pogacar in Monument hunt also on hellings.

"The Tour of Flanders isn't currently a topic of discussion. We've said it before: this is our first year with Remco, and we're consciously choosing a traditional program. After his accident last season, this isn't the time for experiments. Our primary focus now is on a stable season with him."

"You Flemish people are truly unbelievable. You see Evenepoel riding over a few cobblestones and suddenly the whole country is in an uproar: will he start in the Tour of Flanders after all? In every newspaper, on every website. Unbelievable," Denk laughs. "I say it here now, with one hundred percent certainty: Remco Evenepoel will not be riding the Tour of Flanders in 2026. After that? Next year? We'll see. But not in 2026."

"If he trained on the cobblestones, it's because we made mistakes there in the past. Emanuel Buchmann was our rider for the Grand Tours at the time, but he never rode in Belgium. If I could turn back time, I would. Even in Grand Tours, you have cobblestones and gravel. You have to be prepared for all conditions. That's why Remco rode on the cobblestones. And because he's still Flemish, of course. Why not?"