Remco Evenepoel has stated that he will start his 2027 season later than he did in 2026 and has suggested he’ll be even more selective over his race calendar.
In an interview with the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws at the weekend’s Chrono des Nations, where he brought the curtain down on his 2026 season with a 13th victory, Evenepoel took stock of the highs and the lows of his first campaign with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
"Long, but overall beautiful," he said in summary of his season. "With a few ups and downs , but fortunately the ups outweighed the downs."
His highlight, naturally, was his runner-up finish behind Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France, where he also won two stages. After notching six wins in the first 10 days of his season, the 26-year-old went on to win a fifth Clásica San Sebastián, the QP de Québec, and the European road race title alongside a record-equalling fourth time trial world title.
And yet, it was still something of a mixed bag. Evenepoel has been known to blow hot and cold, and after his blistering start to the season – with three wins at Challenge Mallorca and two wins plus the overall at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – he was well off the climbing pace at the UAE Tour, and could only manage fifth at the Volta a Catalunya.
Later in the year, despite winning the European title, he spurned a golden shot at the world road race title in Pogačar’s absence by falling flat in Montréal, and he similarly fizzled out at the key juncture of Il Lombardia.
"The World Championship road race and Lombardy weren’t great – we will certainly discuss that internally soon," Evenepoel said. "And I was left with my most miserable feeling at the UAE Tour. I really wasn’t good there."
Evenepoel said that his Worlds and Lombardia shortcomings will be dissected but, interestingly, he has already set out to correct the issue, completing a mammoth training ride of over seven hours last Wednesday, despite most riders winding down for the off-season.
"I felt like I had fallen short in the final hour over the past few weeks, both in the World Championship road race and in Il Lombardia. That’s why I wanted to fit in another long endurance ride like that," Evenepoel explained. "The weather was beautiful too. And great fun. I just felt like it. And being in that European champion's jersey... it gave me morale."
What does 2027 have in store?
After that issue is discussed, Evenepoel says "the book on 2026 can be closed" and he can look ahead to 2027, where he has already developed some ideas of how things might be mapped out.
"What is certain is that I will not enter competition as early as I did this year," he told Het Laatste Nieuws of his pair of wins in Mallorca in late January. "As a newcomer to the team, that was somewhat normal. I wanted to prove myself, integrate into the group as well as possible, and win as quickly as possible. Next year will be different."
Evenepoel also said he intends to double down on a selective approach to racing, despite facing criticism this year for his decision not to race at all between Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April and the start of the Tour de France in July.
"What we have also felt and learned is that I need very good preparation periods for my major goals. So we are going to schedule those even more specifically. And less rushing from race to race, as was the case a few times in 2026," he said.
The big question mark of the next few weeks will be whether Evenepoel decides to repeat that build-up to the Tour de France after his success there this year, or whether he might be tempted into targeting the Giro d'Italia instead.
Evenepoel hasn't ridden the Giro since Covid-19 forced him to abandon the 2023 edition where he looked on course for success following his first Grand Tour title at the previous year's Vuelta a España, and if the Giro organisers throw a heavy load of time trialling onto the 2027 route then the opportunity might be too good to pass up.
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