"Pogacar is going to be on a higher level than last year" - Johan Bruyneel prepares Evenepoel, Vingegaard and co. for difficult 2026

Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin have analyzed the difficult UAE Tour that Remco Evenepoel has had; the rise of Juan Ayuso in his successful debut at Lidl-Trek and how the entire peloton may have to deal with a Tadej Pogacar that may be a level higher in 2026 and could give the rest of his competitors a headache.

At the UAE Tour, the duo saw Isaac del Toro impress with an overall win conquered at Jebel Hafeet; where the UAE leader managed to dethrone Antonio TIberi and simultaneously, be the new record holder on the Emirati mountain. "... 44 seconds faster than the record, 44 seconds faster than Pogacar's fastest time up that climb, it's not bad. And Jebel Hafeet has been featured in typically always in the tour of UAE," Bruyneel said on The Move podcast. "But, you know, I mean, I think records - especially when it's you know the times - I always want to see it, put it in a proper context. You know, we don't know if it was tailwind". We can confirm there was a tailwind on the ascent, which did aid the riders into putting in storming times up the climb.

On Remco Evenepoel, the reaction after Jebel Hafeet was not as negative for Spencer Martin: "Remco Evenepoel, 52 seconds back. What do you make of this performance? I thought he would either be winning the stage or like 10 minutes back. Pretty good climb. But what does this tell us?"

"If you then have a week where it turns out to not be 100 percent... After that defeat on that first climb, the super hard climb... Yeah. It was almost impossible for him to be [there]," Bruyneel responded. "And you know, he was better, didn't really crack or break down completely like the other day. But if you're off, you're off, you know and it does happen".

Bruyneel does not believe it is a disastrous scenario, but it is a concern for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, and evidence that Evenepoel's current level is not enough for him to dream of more than a podium at the 2026 Tour de France: "He's not in bad shape, but he's not in top shape either. And it also shows, Spencer, that World Tour races are a different level than anything we have seen until now. Mallorca, Valencia, some good riders are there, but it's not the same level. So Remco is in good shape, but he has work to do. And I'm pretty sure that he's going to be able to improve".

However, with the month of March comes an altitude camp and the Volta a Catalunya; which should for most be interpreted as Evenepoel's first serious test of the season for the mountains. The Belgian pundit certainly sees it this way, whilst also arguing the climbs in the UAE were not well suited to the current Olympic, World and European time trial champion:

"It's still very early in the season, so I think it's way too early to draw conclusions and to judge whether he can be there or not. But to me, it is a fact that when it's super steep, saying 10 to 12 percent and longer than three kilometers, I have not seen Remco Evenepoel be with the best climbers for now on climbs like that."

However the choice of the Tour is somewhat logic for Bruyneel, who believes the climbs are simply better adapted to his compatriot's abilities: "For me personally, the Tour de France is the best terrain for Remco. It's better than the Giro and better than the Vuelta, because the climbs typically, there are some steep climbs sometimes; but you know usually the Alps and the Pyrenees it's long climbs, it's 10, 12, 15 kilometers, and usually between 7 and 9 percent. And that's ideal terrain for Remco, because that's a time trial on those climbs. He will not respond to attacks. He should not respond to attacks".

However a bigger question can be raised, which is that even if Evenepoel finds his very best level, if this will be enough to contest with Tadej Pogacar. "If you think about Tadej and Jonas [Vingegaard]... Some climbs are good, sometimes are bad. Would there be any climb that they would face that you'd say that's not good for them? Every climb is good for them. So you can't really compete with them if you're a situational climber," Martin argues. "You've got to be good all the time, or you're not going to be able to beat them."

A top-shape Evenepoel can be competitive against Pogacar, but that would also depend on an evolution, and a stabilization of the World Champions' level. Bruyneel states: "I personally expect Pogacar to be, we'll see soon when he starts racing. Since the level keeps going up of, of all the riders, Pogacar is going to be on a higher level than last year, in my opinion. So it's quite frustrating for everybody else who has to race against it."

The duo also discussed the Volta ao Algarve, in which Juan Ayuso stormed to the overall win after a strong time trial and an impressive sprint up the Alto do Malhão to win the final stage in the yellow jersey. A confidence-booster and the best start to his stint with Lidl-Trek, as Martin puts it: "I thought Ayuso, the big takeaway here is looked really happy and comfortable with the team built around him".

Lidl-Trek looked in control of the race and Ayuso delivered against an insanely-strong Paul Seixas who himself put in the best stage-race performance of his career thus far. "I think for Ayuso it's a super important win," Bruyneel adds. "Same as, you know, when Remco did his first races with Red Bull. He comes in this team, they made a huge effort to get him out of his UAE contract and get him to the team, paid a lot of money. It's super important to make that statement and say 'ok guys, I'm here, I deliver, I win".