‘It would be scary to see him even better’ - Tadej Pogačar on Remco Evenepoel’s move to Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe

Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel (L) speaks with UAE Team Emirates’s Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar (R) ahead of the 119th edition of the Giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy), a 238km cycling race from Como to Bergamo on October 11, 2025. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at the start of Il Lombardia (Image credit: Getty Images)

One of the most striking moments in 2025 was watching Remco Evenepoel catch and pass Tadej Pogačar to win the time trial world title for the third time in a row.

Pogačar, by any measure, had an unfathomable season, his catalogue of victories was unprecedented. Even though Evenepoel already held two TT world titles, seeing him overtake the Slovenian was still astonishing. Days later, however, Pogačar reminded the world of his dominance with a blistering solo attack to claim his second straight road race world title in Rwanda, with Evenepoel settling for silver.

Throughout 2025, Evenepoel finished ahead of the UAE Team Emirates–XRG star three times, all in time trials: stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, stage 5 of the Tour de France, and the World Championships.

But on the road and in general classifications, Pogačar was untouchable. He won the Critérium du Dauphiné, where Evenepoel placed fourth, as well as the European Championships and Il Lombardia, in which the Belgian finished runner-up. He then dominated the Tour de France for a third consecutive year, a race Evenepoel ultimately abandoned.

Evenepoel has made it clear that his ultimate ambition remains winning the Tour de France, and the groundwork is already being laid. With his new team, Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe, the Belgian superstar is focused on becoming a rider capable of challenging both Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the sport’s highest level

“For himself, I think a change can be good; changes can sometimes be really good. He goes from one super team to another super team,” a relaxed and smiling Pogačar told sporza when asked about Evenepoel moving from Soudal-Quickstep to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

“It will be interesting to see if he can make another step, which I hope not, because he’s already so good and so dominant sometimes. It would be scary to see him even better.

“But I think he can do really good and I think the whole world is interested [to see] how he’s going to be at Red Bull, but I think maybe it’s going to be similar to what was now, in terms of [outside] view, but for him it will be a big change for sure.”

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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites. 

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