“It’s possible to win the Tour de France one day, it’s my dream” – Remco Evenepoel vows to make ‘many sacrifices’ in Pogacar pursuit
Cycling
For all the noise around his winter move, the accusations from his former boss, and the early victories in Mallorca, the clearest explanation for Remco Evenepoel’s switch to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe comes from the rider himself.
“It’s possible to win the Tour de France one day, it’s my dream,” Evenepoel said in an interview with Eurosport France. “It’s my dream, I will do everything to achieve it, to win it. I’ll make many sacrifices.”
Those words cut through everything else. This is not about fresh colours, new staff, or a perfect start to the season. It is about July. And it is about closing the gap to Tadej Pogacar.
Evenepoel’s Mallorca hat trick offered reassurance that his winter has gone to plan. But the Belgian is already looking far beyond January form checks. He is thinking in terms of what it will take to win cycling’s biggest race.
Learning from the moments he was dropped
Evenepoel spoke openly about what he took from last season’s direct confrontations with Pogacar. He referenced the World Championships road race, where the pair went head-to-head on the climbs.
“I learned a lot from that race,” he said. “It was a race where I was really at my best, and we had a real battle on the climb where Tadej dropped me. For 20 to 30 seconds, I really had to recover from that initial effort. These are the things we work on, the things we want to improve.”
That is where the sacrifices come in. Evenepoel made it clear that the work being done now is precise and deliberate. “We do a lot of intense training. We look at his level from last year, where I think he was untouchable. We look at my own level, and we want to reach the maximum of my abilities.”
A programme built around peaks
Evenepoel also outlined how carefully his 2026 race calendar has been built. There is no scattergun approach. Instead, there are controlled peaks, altitude camps, and race blocks designed to monitor how his body responds across ten days of competition.
“Let’s hope we can have a normal season and see how I react during an altitude training camp, over ten days of competition. That’s why we’ve put together a basic programme. I’m happy. It’s still a good programme with some great races, lots of peaks.”
He added that, even in races that might appear secondary, his approach will not change. “Every race I enter, I’ll be aiming to give my all.”
Competing with Pogacar, not just chasing him
Perhaps the most telling line was not about winning, but about positioning. “I hope one day to be able to compete alongside him, and maybe even one day be at the front.”
That is an unusually honest admission from a rider who has already won a Grand Tour and stood on the Tour de France podium. It shows the scale of the challenge Evenepoel believes lies ahead.
The victories in Mallorca have shown that his legs are ready. The environment at Red Bull has given him confidence. But in his own words, everything now points to a longer-term objective that demands patience, precision, and sacrifice.
For Evenepoel, the move, the winter work, and the early wins all feed into a single idea. Winning the Tour de France is not a hope. It is a plan that he is prepared to reshape his entire season around.
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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