"That is a purely sporting choice by himself" - Patrick Lefevere disagrees with Remco Evenepoel's choice to return at the Tour de Suisse
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel will be back in action for the first time since the Giro d'Italia at the upcoming Tour de Suisse. If had been up to the Soudal - Quick-Step boss however, this would not have been the case.
"Remco is going back to the Tour de Suisse. In all honesty: that is a purely sporting choice by himself and by trainer Koen Pelgrim," writes Patrick Lefevere in his column for Het Nieuwsblad. "There are two time trials in Switzerland, of 12.7 and 25.7 kilometres respectively, and that is the best possible preparation for the championships that are coming soon."
Had the choice been solely Lefevere's, Evenepoel would have instead been travelling to Belgium. "I can say that I have texted back and forth with Christophe Impens from Golazo and that they are willing to "make an effort" for the Baloise Belgium Tour," he explains. "But now and then, as CEO, I am also the king of Belgium. A ceremonial head of state, without executive power. That doesn't happen too often for the record."
"The Tour of Switzerland does not make an effort for Evenepoel. They used to be good payers, but when they became part of the WorldTour it was ruined," Lefevere continues. "As in so many races. The WorldTour imposes on the organizers a minimum compensation of 8,500 euros to the teams. But in practice, Switzerland - and all other races - sees that as a standard rate that they never exceed. Eight days of racing in Switzerland, with the Swiss prices at the pump and in the shops, try to fund that with 8,500 euros."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
The World Champion returns to racing this month 💥 @EvenepoelRemco will be at the start of the @tds and the National Championships, before traveling to @valdifassa for the team’s summer training camp 🌈 Read more about this, here: soudal-quickstepteam.com/en/news/6091/t… Photo: @BeelWout
2 Comments