“We cannot put Remco on the same level as clear Tour favourites” - Johan Bruyneel on Remco Evenepoel’s Tour de France chances
Cycling
A victory on the final stage and second place in the general classification at Paris-Nice marked a solid outing for Remco Evenepoel in only his second race of the season so far. However, the young Belgian would have probably been hoping for better after his overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve last month.
After a solid performance from Soudal Quick-Step in the team time trial on stage 3, which left him in eighth place overall, Evenepoel made a series of tactical blunders and was unable to follow the decisive attacks, as he was often marked by the other GC contenders.
Speaking on The Move podcast, the former rider, sports director and general manager Johan Bruyneel criticised Evenepoel’s performance at Paris-Nice, as he said that “I love Remco, but I am also the first to be critical. By the way, I am not a member of his fan club. He is a strong rider, but he still has a lot to learn and improve tactically”.
He then gave a realistic assessment of Evenepoel’s chances at the Tour de France this summer, as he went on to say that “we cannot put Remco on the same level as clear Tour favourites such as Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar and even Primož Roglič. The Tour will be a learning process for him. He will race actively and aggressively, but I think the top five should be his goal. Remco himself will undoubtedly want to win, but we cannot expect that from him”.
There were also problems with the Soudal Quick-Step team on the final day of the race, as he had no teammates left in the group early on in the stage, with Bruyneel saying that “Remco was completely isolated during the final stage. Based on what I have seen last week, I have huge doubts about Soudal Quick-Step as a contender in the Tour”.
Evenepoel will now head to Itzulia Basque Country at the beginning of April, before then turning his attention to the Ardennes Classics, as he is currently scheduled to ride the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne ahead of his return to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he will attempt to win the race for the third year in a row.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- 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
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Ripping the race apart 🔥
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