"I’m talking about Remco Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and a few others" - Tadej Pogacar's rivals told to look over their shoulders in Grand Tour rush
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard should be looking over their shoulder ahead of the 2027 season when it comes to Grand Tours. After Il Lombardia confirmed the arrival proper of Paul Seixas as a monument winner, the 20-year-old's rise to stardom could see him take aim at the last two Tour de France runners-up.
With Tadej Pogacar the unrivalled king of the Grand Tours and shaping up for an attempt at his fourth Tour de France yellow jersey and sixth of his career, what used to be Jonas Vingegaard as his only direct challenger is now a conversation in itself.
Remco Evenepoel's strong 2026 season confirmed that the Belgian can compete for the Tour podium over three weeks as he took two stage wins, including a summit finish besting of the Slovenian, on the way to second overall.
However, Vingegaard notably crashed out as it remains to be seen who would have claimed second place had the Dane remained in the race for the third week.
Red Bull rider Evenepoel enjoyed various periods of success throughout the season, including an early-season purple patch, Tour of Flanders debut podium and Clasica San Sebastian.
Legendary cyclist and analyst José De Cauwer noted that the 26-year-old's European Championships win is overshadowed by sub-par performances at the World Championships and Il Lombardia as Evenepoel's form dipped after his Tour peak.
Paul Seixas and Tadej Pogacar
"The European Championship diminishes in value for me"
“Races like Lombardy and the World Championships stick with me. Because of that, the European Championship diminishes in value for me. Had he won Lombardy the following week, I would have found that European jersey fantastic,” De Cauwer said in an interview with Wieler Revue.
"Ciccone also made a serious mistake at the European Championships."
With much commentary surrounding the Belgian's two-month preparation for the Tour, it became clear that Evenepoel could not sustain both the lean general classification shape as well as the resulting performances in the climbing-heavy and attritional goals late-season.
Although he put in landmark performances at the World Championships time trial and European Championships, de Cauwer believes that his stellar Tour form wasn't there in the final block of the season.
“He rode brilliantly there. In the first week, I was still thinking: surely it can't be true again? Just not quite. But then came the second week, and that third week was top-notch.
“In hindsight, it turns out that his autumn condition was certainly not as good as during those last two weeks of the Tour.”
Rise of Paul Seixas
Furthermore, the analyst believes that Il Lombardia also signalled a shift in Evenepoel and Vingegaard's opposition. Although the pair have been looking up at a surging Pogacar, the pair risk being undercut by a rapidly developing Seixas.
Seixas isn't alone in reaching cycling's upper echelons as his rise follows Isaac del Toro. The 23-year-old Mexican is another for the Pogacar rivals to watch, but de Cauwer implied that he sees greater potential in Seixas.
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“On the day of Lombardy, after the race, I said: surely a few guys need to start looking now. And I’m talking about Remco Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and a few others. That guy is twenty years old, you know!
“Seixas seems more like a hard worker to me. Del Toro is a bit more playful. Also a huge talent, but he is three years older, you know.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Theirs a few on the team who may be able to step up/progress to Grand Tour wins but that'll come, not in '27 tho 🤷 - Roglic mayve appealed on a 2 yr for immediate results but other riders would be set aside and the existing riders wouldn't like that
leedorney11-11-2026 - Say hi to your orange orangutan president, who wears diapers.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- Hey @santiagobenites, that's why @leedorney is wrong. He doesn't see the bigger picture.PogiSloFans11-11-2026
- the rot started in 2022 with Bernal's accident Signings- Just super helpers and non winners. Foss GC Leaders - Reliance on injured Bernal and retiring G Talents - On domestique duty dont learn how to win. Sprinters - No top Sprinter signed Tactics- Outdated Save the leader, trains. Just money badly spent even though there were opportunitiesabstractengineer11-11-2026
- Whole team is a mess. They don't have any really top tier "podium lock" GT riders, and they don't really have a solid classics block. Just a bunch of spare parts. I don't know why any rider would go for them either. Feels like old mate with the money is likely to pull out at any given moment, and that doesn't bode well for their ability to jack up their budget and say "let's buy half a dozen shit-hot talents to ride support/lead our team" - which is what they probably need to do to get competitive again.wrsty11-11-2026
- Pogi is a Goat. He has power numbers that are once in a century. Jonas is a once in a generation, He has power numbers 1 level lower than Pogi. Even if both are equal which they were before 2024, Pogi would have won on sprint bonuses. For Jonas to win he has to crack Pogi, which is impossible. Therefore Giro is a good option considering the TT in TDF. He cannot win but if something happens to Pogi , he should be still in a position to win the TDF, Giro or no Giro, because the others are a level below him.abstractengineer11-11-2026
- for what?frieders311-11-2026
- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026
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