“Remco feels he's back on track” – Evenepoel targets rainbow success in Rwanda after Tour of Britain return

Remco Evenepoel returned to racing at last week’s Tour of Britain 2025 and left with reasons to be encouraged. The Belgian double Olympic champion won a stage and finished second overall in a race that offered few opportunities perfectly suited to his strengths. More importantly, it was his first sign since abandoning the Tour de France that his form is heading in the right direction before the World Championships in Rwanda later this month.

His coach, Koen Pelgrim, was quick to underline the progress. Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, the Dutchman noted the contrast between Evenepoel’s current condition and his struggles earlier in the summer. “In Livigno (his altitude training camp) he already had a good feeling. Completely different from his training camp between the Dauphiné and the Tour de France. That didn't go as planned. Remco didn't recover well and had to take extra rest. You saw the result in the first week of the Tour: he wasn't bad, but he wasn't the best Remco.”

Evenepoel’s 2025 has been complicated from the outset. He was injured during the off-season, missed vital base training during the winter, and only started racing in April. That left him rushing to be fit for the Tour de France. He impressed early, winning a stage and holding the white jersey, but three brutal days in the Pyrenees exposed his lack of preparation and forced him to abandon.

After such an impressive 2024, where he finished on the podium at the Tour and won two Olympic golds, 2025 has not lived up to expectations. But, Evenepoel now has the opportunity to end the season on a positive note, in what will be his final months as a Soudal – Quick-Step rider.

Pelgrim described the turnaround that has taken place since the Tour. “He started off quietly in Livigno, but after a few days it was serious again. It went well; this time he recovered well from the exertions. He felt fresh during and after the Tour of Britain. Remco feels he's back on track.”

The Tour of Britain was not only his first outing since the Tour, but also his first as a rider heading into a new chapter. During the summer he finally confirmed that he will join Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe from 2026, putting an end to months of speculation about his future.

That clarity, Pelgrim suggested, may help his focus. “We haven't talked about it much, but it seems logical to me that a weight has been lifted off his shoulders now that the transfer issues are behind him. I can imagine that something like that caused a distraction: that's energy you can't put into your training or recovery. You carry those kinds of things with you anyway, but now they're off the table.”

The Belgian himself sounded upbeat when he reflected on his week in Britain, where he claimed a stage win and fought for the overall with Romaine Gregoire and Julian Alaphilippe. Speaking to CyclingUpToDate, he said: “Pretty good, I think I took out kind of the maximum, except for stage 4 probably. Very happy, nice win yesterday, good feeling overall. Some extra rides after the stages as well, so very happy with this win.”

He added that he was feeling very positive. “Overall, pretty good. I think, yeah, numbers were quite high the whole week. Not for myself, but also the whole bunch was riding pretty quick every day. So, yeah, now I will keep pushing on the high-intensity stuff and work on that because we know in the Worlds with the local lap, the last few kilometers are going to be very explosive.”

“So I think that's also why I came here and was testing my legs quite a few times. So that's the things I'm going to work on. Getting some heat, getting some altitude and some, like I said, some high-intensity trainings. And then I hope everything should be fine.”

Pelgrim agreed that the racing miles in Britain were vital. “Great Britain was a good incentive. Of course, he can still improve a few percent, that's understandable, and we hope to find that this week. The most important thing was that he was able to race with a good feeling, because it had been a while.”

The World Championships have become a stage where Evenepoel has an incredible record. The last year he failed to win a rainbow jersey was 2021. Since then, he has built a remarkable record: road race world champion in 2022, and time trial world champion in both 2023 and 2024. Rwanda offers him a chance to extend that streak.

“I hope his peak will be higher than in the Tour,” Pelgrim continued. “Last year, preparations for the World Championships were difficult. It was a struggle; you could tell it had been a long season, but now he seems fresh. We can only hope he's on schedule.”