"We knew the race would open up early": Perfectly executed tactics land Remco Evenepoel on Flanders podium

The 2026 Tour of Flanders once again didn't disappoint in that it has delivered various stories. While Tadej Pogacar put his name in the race's history, tying the record of three victories now shared among eight cyclist, just as important has been Remco Evenepoel whose debut connected his previous team Soudal - Quick-Step, where it didn't seem likely he'd ever make his debut, and new employer Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. And it's a shame as Quick-Step's leader Jasper Stuyven crossed the finish line three minutes behind Remco. We can only wonder if, with such a support at his side, Evenepoel could've won De Ronde at this point if he had made his debut earlier...

However it wasn't a flawless race for Stuyven whose dream of a top result nearly dispersed in a crash that took out many top-10 contenders. "It's a shame I crashed in the last 40 kilometers when the rider in front of me went into the ditch (Matteo Trentin, Sam Watson, and Magnus Sheffield also crashed in that same corner). At first, I thought my race was over, but despite this setback, I kept believing and giving it my all," said Stuyven after the race.

Unlike his opponents, Stuyven was eventually able to reconnect with the group fighting for 6th place. And, in a sprint against UAE's Florian Vermeersch and Bahrain's Matej Mohoric, Stuyven left no room for doubters as he secured an honest result after a hard day out.

"I felt good approaching the finish and was encouraged to see others starting to drop back. We can be satisfied with our race; it was a good day for our team, and it makes us even more confident for next Sunday."

Whereas Soudal Quick-Step invested in its only strong card with Stuyven, Red Bull had multiple options heading into the De Ronde. The sports directors had the privilege and burden of multiple strong cards to play past Sunday, varying from the strong specialists Tim van Dijke and Gianni Vermeersch, through a strong endurance-sprinter Laurence Pithie, to Remco Evenepoel and his unmapped potential at the race.

Ultimately, the race eased the decision-making process as Evenepoel was the only one capable of putting up a fight against Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar on decisive second ascent of Oude Kwaremont.

His teammates Van Dijke and Vemeersch who have made the initial same split alongside Evenepoel were eventually sidelined to just a battle for top-10 result as the front of the race was out of their reach. But before that both put in a big shift for their leader.

"We had to cooperate because it was a good opportunity for everyone to get a good result. We quickly built a big gap, so if you're in a group like that, you can go far in the race. Also, we had Remco, so we wanted everyone to work together to build the gap," Vermeersch told Eurosport afterwards.

"We knew there was a chance the race would open up quite early, so we were in a good position going into the Molenberg, and that's where it happened. After that, the goal was simply to work together to go as far as possible."

And ultimately, Remco Evenepoel finished his first Tour of Flanders in third place, enough to make him want to come back and try to win it in the coming years: "I think the team and I rode a perfect race. Remco was also very strong for his first time," the 33-year-old concluded.