No decision at Red Bull - BORA whether Evenepoel will race Tour de France - "We're now waiting for the routes of the other Grand Tours"

Remco Evenepoel is the best time trialist in the world and a rider with the dream of winning the Tour de France one day. That may not be in 2026, as the route has been presented almost without a single kilometer of flat time trialing. Within Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe the choices for Grand Tours next season aren't made yet, but certainly the Tour may not end up being the Belgian's main goal after what has been revealed today.

"We're looking at the route with the general classification in mind," Zak Dempster said in words to Sporza at the race's presentation in Paris. "But there are also numerous stages that suit our racing style and many of our riders." The route is one with a 19-kilometer long time trial opening up the race in Barcelona, and then later on with a 27 kilometer time trial in the final week, one with two thirds of it either climbing or descending. It's a route where Evenepoel does not really have the chance to make the difference with his skillset, also as there are not many hilly days, but instead a few high mountain stages where most of the differences are believed to be made. 

Within Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe there is Florian Lipowitz to also be used as a big weapon for the Grand Tours, whilst the likes of Primoz Roglic, Florian Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari are also very dangerous weapons. We can be certain that for both the Giro and Tour the German team will have very strong lineups, but who will lead in each is not yet known and is also not going to be an easy decision.

That is, unless the Giro comes out with a time trial-heavy route which could favour Evenepoel a lot more. "We're now waiting for the routes of the other Grand Tours before finalizing our team leaders' season plans," Dempster assures, and we could well have a Jonas Vingegaard-Remco Evenepoel battle at the Giro if the route is well suited to the new BORA leader, as both look to evade the presence of the cannibalistic dominance of Tadej Pogacar.