“Remco is above that” – Soudal – Quick-Step reveal more about Remco Evenepoel’s disastrous Tour de France
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel’s withdrawal from the Tour de France came
after a tough stretch in the Pyrenees, but the full story only emerged days
later. Despite a stage win in the time trial, the 25-year-old Belgian never
looked like the rider who’s won the Vuelta, claimed a world title, and captured
Olympic gold twice. His early exit left many puzzled, until Evenepoel revealed
he had started the race with a broken rib and was not fully healthy after a
difficult inner. That delay in disclosure raised questions, but according to
his team, it wasn’t a calculated move.
"It's not unusual not to say something like that when
you're in the Tour," said Soudal – Quick-Step boss Tom Steels to Sporza.
"We'd already experienced it with Dan Martin in the Tour. He didn't want
to dwell on his broken rib."
"You don't ride the Tour as preparation. Here, you have
to and want to perform. Something like that just blocks your mind. But of
course, his rib was broken, yes."
"Some things you can overcome," Steels added.
"A break like that is never ideal. It's annoying and it has an impact, but
sometimes you just want to block it out."
As for why Evenepoel didn’t disclose the injury when he
pulled out, Steels wasn’t quick to criticize. "It's no excuse, and in the
Tour everything is merciless," he said. "There's always polarization,
but Remco is above that. And a rider still has the freedom to decide what he
says or doesn't say."
Evenepoel broke his silence on social media, revealing,
"Just before the Tour, there was another crash. During the national
championships, I broke another rib," he said. "Not the worst, but
certainly not ideal. So I started the toughest race in the world with a broken
rib and a tired body. Not an ideal combination. But I didn't want to let go of
my goal, which I had fought so hard for."
Read also
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
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