"It could be seen as a disguised fear of failure" - Remco Evenepoel warned against 2027 Giro gamble as Tour de France offers golden opportunity
Cycling
Jan Bakelants believes Remco Evenepoel would be making a serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France.
The Belgian finished runner-up to Tadej Pogacar at this year's Tour, and with 71 kilometres of individual time trialling included in the newly unveiled 2027 route, Bakelants believes he has an opportunity that should not be compromised.
"Remco has been handed a fantastic opportunity by the 2027 Tour route," the former professional told HLN. "It would be very strange not to unwrap this gift with the golden ribbon and try to get absolutely everything out of it."
Why the 2027 Tour de France route offers Remco Evenepoel a golden opportunity
Evenepoel's first season with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe brought his best Tour result to date, including stage victories on the summit finish at Plateau de Solaison and in the individual time trial to Thonon-les-Bains. Although Pogacar ultimately finished more than six minutes clear, the Belgian's progress in the mountains offered encouragement alongside his established strength against the clock.
"Riding the Giro, even in combination with the Tour, could in this case be seen as a disguised fear of failure," Bakelants argued. "It would mean deviating from Plan A, almost as if he didn't have the confidence beforehand that he could succeed in July. I would therefore be extremely surprised if he put the Giro on his calendar."
Evenepoel has DNF'd both of his previous two Giro d'Italias
Giro-Tour double threatens Evenepoel's 2027 Tour de France preparations
Evenepoel has unfinished business in Italy, having abandoned both his previous Giro appearances. In 2023, he withdrew with Covid-19 while wearing the Maglia Rosa, shortly after winning the stage nine individual time trial.
The 2027 Giro features 56.9 kilometres against the clock, but its mountainous final week includes two ascents of the Mortirolo, the Passo di Gavia and a penultimate-stage summit finish on Monte Zoncolan. The race ends on 30 May, just 33 days before the Tour begins in Edinburgh.
With several established Grand Tour contenders elsewhere in Red Bull's squad, Evenepoel would not necessarily need to race in Italy for the team to challenge for the Maglia Rosa.
Bakelants was particularly dismissive of the prospect of a difficult Tour being blamed on fatigue from the Giro. "Turning up there with the excuse of 'I'm tired because I've already got the Giro in my legs' would go down very badly with the media," he said. "We'd call it poor planning."
Read also
The importance of that preparation was evident in 2026. Under coach Tim Heemskerk, Evenepoel went 68 days without racing after Liege-Bastogne-Liege, concentrating entirely on the Tour before recording his best-ever finish in France.
Whether Red Bull follows the same approach in 2027 remains to be seen. A Giro appearance, however, would mean sacrificing much of the preparation that helped Evenepoel finish second in France, just as the Tour is offering him his most favourable route yet.
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
- the 6th TDF is a more record breaking opportunity than a 2nd Giro. Jonas can double up. For Remco its TDF. For Sexias it will be a good opportunity but as usual TDF will be his main goal For del Toro, yes good opportunityabstractengineer04-11-2026
- Well, this is something which isn't all that common
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026
Loading
1 Comments