“It was close to perfect” – Remco Evenepoel ticks early box on Tour de France path with ideal Red Bull debut at Trofeo Ses Salines

A winter of expectation turned into immediate confirmation on the roads of Mallorca, as Remco Evenepoel opened his new chapter with a statement victory in the Trofeo Ses Salines.

On his first competitive outing for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, the Belgian played a central role in a commanding team time trial win, delivering exactly the kind of controlled, high-speed execution that underpins his long-term ambition of challenging Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France later this summer.

The course itself offered no climbing brutality, but the demands were clear. Precision, pacing and discipline mattered more than raw elevation gain, and Evenepoel made it clear afterwards that the team arrived with a defined plan.

“It was not a hard course in terms of elevation, but a team time trial is always tough,” he said in a post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net. “We had a pretty structured plan and it turned out well, so I think we have to be happy.”

The decisive phase came after the turnaround, where a sustained headwind and a late kicker reshaped the effort. Evenepoel acknowledged that this was always where the race would be decided, regardless of small time losses earlier on.

“We knew the way back was going to be the most important part, with the headwind and the small kicker at around three kilometres to go,” he explained. “That’s where we wanted to make the biggest difference, and I think we did.”

At the intermediate check, Red Bull trailed marginally, but the response was calm and calculated. Once the road turned back towards the finish, the Belgian drove the pace and helped stabilise a line-up that briefly looked vulnerable over the rise.

“Everybody knew we were going to go really paced until the U-turn, and then from there it was full gas,” Evenepoel said. “Winning is winning. It was a really fast team time trial, and I think we did it perfectly.”

The victory matters in its own right, but the wider significance lies in what it suggests about Evenepoel’s integration into his new environment. The Belgian stressed the morale boost of starting the season with a win alongside unfamiliar team-mates, particularly in a discipline that demands trust and cohesion.

“It’s pretty nice to start the season with a win, and also with the new teammates,” he said. “That’s good for morale.”

Asked whether the performance offered lessons for July, Evenepoel resisted drawing sweeping conclusions, but did not hide his satisfaction with how the team handled pressure when it mattered most.

“Every parcours is different, so it’s difficult to say what we can improve,” he said. “But what we did today was really close to perfection for this team time trial.”

That measured response fits the broader picture. This was not about fireworks or dominance, but about ticking an early box: structure, execution and collective strength all aligned on day one.

For Evenepoel and Red Bull, the Tour de France remains months away. But in Mallorca, the first step on that path looked, by his own admission, very close to perfect.