As far back as early 2024, former QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere had already raised the possibility of Remco Evenepoel riding the Tour of Flanders "one day". With a new team beckoning for Evenepoel next year, there is a fresh wave of speculation that April 2026 could finally be the year when Belgium's biggest cycling star makes his debut in Belgium's biggest bike race.
The Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws claimed on Wednesday that "the flirt with the Tour of Flanders is gaining more and more ground in Evenepoel's mind," while a first-time participation in Milan-San Remo is also on the cards for 2026.
Evenepoel has had repeated success in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, winning in 2022 and 2023, and has also taken part in the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. However, the only year in which he took part in the cobbled Classics was at the Nokere Koerse and Bredene Koksijde Classic in March 2019 as a first-year pro. He finished both races, but did not secure a standout result in either.
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Since then, the closest Evenepoel has come to the cobbled Classics has been repeated participations (and one win, in 2025) in De Brabantse Pijl. The 1.Pro-ranked one-day race normally takes place the week after Paris-Roubaix, and its mixture of urban pavé and punchy hills makes it a kind of transition event between the flatter early Spring Classics and the closing chapter on the climbs of the Ardennes that follow.
Whilst the debate over Evenepoel's possible race program with his new team, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, will likely continue until at least it is likely revealed at the team camp in early December in Mallorca. In the meantime the prospect of a Classics-heavy schedule for Evenepoel's first half of 2026 - or at least speculation about it is rising, HLN reports, given the now-predicted lack of a second time trial in the Giro d'Italia.
The Giro route will be revealed until December 1, in Rome. On the plus side for Evenepoel, a flat individual time trial of over 40 kilometres - the longest without a summit finish finale since 2016 - is widely expected to open the second week of racing, just like in 2025 in the region of Tuscany. However, Evenepoel's hope that there could be a second TT on the program as well, now appears to be increasingly unlikely.
While HLN even claims that the Giro is still not decided, the uncertainty over the course is said to boost the chances of the Classics featuring more on Evenepoel's program. And the Tour of Flanders is reportedly making its way - once again - towards the top, albeit not the number one spot, of Evenepoel's potential spring priorities.
