Belgian Classics champion Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) has given compatriot Remco Evenepoel's unexpected decision to take part in the Tour of Flanders for the first time this Sunday a resounding vote of approval.
Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has raced Belgium's other Monument, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, three times and won it twice, including on his debut in 2022. However, he has never taken part in the De Ronde and, after signing with Red Bull over the winter, his team plans seemingly were to defer it for the years to come.
As recently as last winter, Red Bull cycling team boss Ralph Denk categorically told Het Nieuwsblad that "with one hundred percent certainty: Remco Evenepoel will not ride the Tour of Flanders in 2026.”
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However, the sightings of Evenepoel on various training rides that included Flanders climbs all helped maintain the speculation that his keenly anticipated debut in the biggest Belgian cobbled Classic would actually become a reality.
Announced shortly before the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, there was only one topic of conversation possible during interviews with the Belgian stars. Although mindful of the date the bombshell news had broken, Van Aert hailed Evenepoel's decision, saying, "He'd only start if he was going to look for a top result."
"He's welcome, I think it's great news," he told Sporza, "I hope it's not an April Fool's joke."
"The Tour of Flanders deserves the best possible field of participants. Remco certainly deserves to be in the mix. Am I surprised? No, I had a feeling it could happen."
Van Aert added to Nieuwsblad that the 'breaking news', as he called it, would obviously change the physiognomy of the Tour of Flanders line-up, where the Visma-Lease a Bike racer hopes to make the much anticipated duel between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) a three-way battle.
“Of course, he is another competitor joining the field. If he starts, I can assume that he is doing so with big goals in mind. He is strong in all one-day races, so he is certainly someone to reckon with.
Evenepoel's previous participation in cobbled Classics is very limited, coming in his first year with Soudal-QuickStep, when he raced the Danilth Nokere Koerse and the Bredene Koksijde Classic, finishing an unremarkable 57th and 46th respectively. However, six years on expectations for his participation in Flanders this April will be much, much higher.
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