Problems in the paradise? Remco told off racing Tour of Flanders by Red Bull: "Two teams have now told him it's unwise"

The 2026 season will be a jump into unknown for Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian broke up with Soudal - Quick-Step after a seven-year relationship to chase even bigger achievements with the ambitious Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. To limit the unknows in the equation, Evenepoel will stick to a races that he's already quite familiar with, leaving out any large experiments for future seasons.

On the Kop Over Kop podcast, host Sander Valentijn explains Evenepoel's plans for his new team: "He'll start with a quiet and predictable program and work his way through Catalunya and the Walloon region towards the Tour de France. He himself said there was so much new stuff that he wanted to approach it predictably."

However Jeroen Vanbelleghem counters, pointing out the small conflict that immediately occured between the two parties: "I'll correct you right away. The team says that, while Evenepoel himself would have preferred it differently. He initially preferred to ride the Giro d'Italia or the Tour of Flanders."

"There were two options he proposed. That was either a full spring season with Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, and the Tour de France, or he wanted to ride the Giro. The team said: No, we're going to do the classics with an Armstrong program. A few classics, but all focus on the Tour."

It's quite possible that the soon 26-year-old Belgian wanted to escape the pressure of Tour de France after the failed 2025 campaign. "Evenepoel has already secretly admitted that he would have preferred things to be different, but he also understands the team's reasons."

"I do think it's a shame that he's not riding races like Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, and Milano-Sanremo, which he's never ridden. I thought it would be a good year to do that, but the team doesn't think it's better. I understand it to some extent, but you're not going to win the Tour against Pogacar. So just ride more different races," the Flemish commentator believes.

Jan Hermsen is now seeing a pattern: "Last year, Evenepoel also wanted something different, but Quick-Step said: 'We're going to do it this way anyway.' Red Bull is essentially saying the same thing, because last year he also really wanted to ride the Giro and Flanders. Now there are two teams saying that's not wise, and Remco says: 'I would have preferred to do it differently.'"

"Is that uncertainty?" Bobbie Traksel wonders, but according to Jan Hermsen, it can only come from one side: "Not with the team, because they know exactly what he can do. This team knows that too, doesn't it?"

According to Bobbie Traksel, it's simply a financial consideration: "For that much money, you can't stay away from the Tour. With Remco Evenepoel, Red Bull has managed to bring in the flair and top talent that a team like this needs. It's a new environment, but they have to be with Red Bull. The team has the budget, but since Red Bull's introduction, they haven't been able to make their mark yet."

Remco will start his season in warmth of Mallorca, followed by UAE Tour. Then he'll compete at Volta a Catalunya and Ardennes triptych. That'll be it regarding his spring programme. Afterwards, the rebranded Critérium du Dauphiné and perhaps the Belgian Championships in June, but most importantly the Tour de France in July.