“I wouldn't rule out two minutes” – Remco Evenepoel tipped to gain huge Tour de France advantage over Tadej Pogacar in 2027
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel could take as much as two minutes out of Tadej Pogacar in the time trials at the 2027 Tour de France, according to former professional Jan Bakelants, who believes the newly unveiled route offers the Belgian an opportunity to seriously threaten the Slovenian's dominance.
The inclusion of 71 kilometres against the clock, more than any Tour since 2012, has put Evenepoel among the biggest beneficiaries of Thursday's route presentation in Paris. Bakelants even envisages Pogacar entering the decisive final days in the Pyrenees chasing the Belgian rather than defending his own advantage.
Could Evenepoel really take two minutes out of Pogacar?
Writing in his column for Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Bakelants was particularly enthusiastic about the two individual time trials, beginning with a 38-kilometre test from Blois to Chambord on stage 7.
"Remco is genuinely the best time triallist in the world. I wouldn't rule out him taking two minutes out of Pogacar across those two time trials, provided he can reproduce the level he showed at the World Championships," Bakelants argued. "That's crucial: he'll have to be just as brilliant as he was in Montreal, because Pogacar's track record in the Tour is also astonishingly strong."
Evenepoel claimed his fourth consecutive elite individual time trial world title in Montreal in September, beating Filippo Ganna by 57 seconds over 39.2 kilometres, with Paul Seixas a further 16 seconds behind.
At the 2026 Tour de France, his advantage over Pogacar was considerably smaller. Evenepoel won the 26.1-kilometre time trial between Evian-les-Bains and Thonon-les-Bains, but the Slovenian finished just 28 seconds behind. By Paris, Pogacar had secured his fifth overall Tour victory, with Evenepoel 6 minutes and 26 seconds adrift.
Next summer's second individual time trial comes on stage 16, a 33-kilometre effort around Toulouse just before the race enters the Pyrenees.
"The biggest difference so far was the 28 seconds this year, but the distances will be longer next summer," Bakelants explained. "In the second time trial, the gap will probably be a little smaller. There's a climb of 800 metres at 12.4 per cent towards the end, which is a challenge on a time trial bike and favours Pogacar more."
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Could Pogacar be forced to chase Evenepoel into the Pyrenees?
Before that second time trial, the peloton will already have tackled the Grand Colombier and Les Saisies, two of the three designated summit finishes on the 2027 route. Both offer Pogacar opportunities to attack before the race reaches the Pyrenees.
"But I have a scenario in my head where Evenepoel reaches the Pyrenees with a one-minute lead and four days remaining," Bakelants said. "That would be fantastic for the suspense. The condition, though, is that Evenepoel needs to be performing from the start at the level he only reached in the final week of this year's Tour."
Stage 18 takes the riders over the Col du Soulor, Col du Tourmalet and Hourquette d'Ancizan before the summit finish on the Col du Portet at 2,215 metres. Another mountainous day follows between Hasparren and Laruns.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme has denied deliberately designing the 2027 route to disadvantage Pogacar. Bakelants, however, believes ASO has sought to keep the race competitive into its final week.
"It's not just the number of time trial kilometres that's interesting. The rest of the route is also clearly different from what we saw this year," he said. "To me, it's obvious that Tour organiser ASO has done everything it can to maintain the suspense until the final week."
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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- the issue is Tadej wins everywhere. if you make it 21 days of flanders, he will wins by 10 minutes. he can win in other scenarios beyond high mountains. and if you make it TT heavy, he puts more time on his TT bike. he has won TTs before.mij23-10-2026
- What is Pogi if not the very best of all-rounders!?Lozza23-10-2026
- 🤣Lozza23-10-2026
- As a big fan of pure climbers I am disappointed that there are so few summit finishes. All Grand Tours seem to be moving towards puncheurs. The two ITT stages favours the wealthy teams who have the best technical resources in that discipline. It is very specialist. Perhaps there should be 1 specialist ITT, and then a hilly ITT on road bikes? Small climbers who are possible GC contenders are going to lose loads of time which they don't have as much opportunity to make up in the mountains.Katla23-10-2026
- Man, I'm really looking forward to next season. Seeing these new line-ups, it's going to be VERY interesting.wrsty23-10-2026
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