Seeing professional cyclists in 'normal clothes' is always a rarity, such are the sponsor commitments and plethora of team-branded casual kit available to riders in the modern era. But in Mallorca on Wednesday, it was a man dressed simply in a hoodie and blue jeans that cycling's international media had flocked to see, as Remco Evenepoel started his public time with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Tied until December 31 to continue wearing Soudal-QuickStep kit in training and unbranded clothing while with his new team, Evenepoel turned up to a highly-attended media day with only matching Puma shoes to connect him with his teammates and management, who all donned Boss-branded team clothing.
What was confirmed was a sensible plan, designed to give him the best chance of arriving at the Tour de France uninterrupted and at full strength – a luxury he hasn't yet been afforded, with heavy crashes in the past two seasons acting as a caveat for his GC results of third and a DNF.
Just under a year ago, he was doored while training in Belgium and suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and hand, with nerve damage resulting in permanent affects to his shoulder – with his winter block completely gone and a racing return only coming in April, he was away from his best at the Tour and forced to retire after 13 stages.
"I think Remco's still got a lot of headroom, and we don't know his full potential yet," Dempster told Cyclingnews in Binissalem, Mallorca, not long after he laid out the leadership plans for 2026. "He's one of the best time trialists ever. He's won a Grand Tour. He's won Liège twice. He's won so much, and he's still had to deal with plenty of setbacks.
"If you draw similarities to a Lipowitz, who has come to the sport late, and has just done this extremely steep improvement curve to where he's at. Now, we need to work hard as a team to find out, right – how can we improve these guys further?
"Setting up plans or accepting that Pogačar is the best isn't a part of what we're about, and what we're about is trying to get that daily improvement, do the things a little bit better.
A blueprint to beat Pogacar
Red Bull's leaders are both 25, and they're right to assume that potential is there to gain, but accepting that Tadej Pogačar is still able to streak away on raw power alone may be what they are faced with doing. However, a blueprint is there for a multi-leader strategy to work in the fight against the world champion.
Evenepoel and Lipowitz sat together as they fielded questions from the English-speaking media on Wednesday, and stage 11 of the 2022 Tour came up as a possible example to draw upon when trying to make co-leadership work best in pursuit of the yellow jersey.
Jumbo-Visma were the suppliers of the masterclass on that occasion, with an unrelenting series of attacks from Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and most of their climbing domestiques drawing Pogačar into an all-out punching match between the Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier.
He would look almighty as he marked them all, but once they hit the Col du Granon, his air of invincibility wavered, and the then two-time defending champion was left in the dust by the Dane. Could this be emulated in Evenepoel and Lipowitz's path to glory?
"Of course, I was a bit scared to say it on the stage as Primož was sitting next to me. We all know the unfortunate ending of his Tour a few times, but I think this is the best example: two very strong riders against somebody who is alone, but also very, very strong," said Evenepoel.
"I think Tadej has improved since then also, but it’s the best example for us the way that Primož and Jonas did it back then [in 2022]. It doesn’t mean that we have to attack from the bottom of the climb like one by one every single climb, but of course, there are multiple tactics that we can use.
"Florian and myself are both different types of riders in terms of tactics and approaching a race, and I think two completely different styles when they come together can be a very good combination. We will also try it in other races."
Even with all the attention, Evenepoel was calm as ever, having been operating with this level of interest for several years as a junior phenom, multiple world champion, Olympic champion and maybe the sport's most compelling superstar.
Does he feel the pressure of being the landmark signing for 2026? "No," was his simple answer, "it’s a team serious with what do, everyone is very professional, so no pressure at all.
"Pressure is for after the new year, when the really important races start. In this team, they all know as well that we are human beings, we can't be perfect every single day. We try as much as possible, and we all go for our goals, without too much pressure.
"There are enough examples in this team, especially this guy next to me who doesn't feel any pressure," he added, gesturing to Roglič – someone he described as an "idol" – who comically looked around the room in response, "so no pressure at all. It's still December – we can keep the pressure away, please."
Building a partnership with Lipowitz
Evenepoel also jokingly warned his new teammate Lipowitz of the media presence that is sure to follow his podium finish at the Tour, saying, "He was third, so it means he will have more requests as well! I didn’t finish the Tour, so for me, there will be nobody this year!"
The pair were comfortable together, but Evenepoel only had it confirmed on Tuesday that he would be going to the Tour – despite it being almost guaranteed from the moment he signed – and between now and July, he and the German must work out how to best perform together.
In pursuit of that, the pair will start their seasons together at a new team time trial at Challenge Mallorca, on January 29, before again joining forces at the Volta a Catalunya in March, which will prove to be a key week for testing tactics and their synergy.
"It's the first time I go to a Grand Tour with double leadership, but the best way for us to do well. Hopefully, we can end up together as high as possible – whether it’s myself or Florian, we want to be on the first step, but it's a very difficult one," said Evenepoel.
"I know from yesterday that I'll ride the Tour, so it's still early to speak about it together. We will do some races together and training camps, learn from each other more and how to race together. It's always better to go there with a few leaders, and as the team decides to go with Tour [with two], we'll adapt to each other and the tactics; it's not the end of the world to go together."
Building the partnership will become a key part of the job for Dempster, team boss Ralph Denk and all of the staff to cultivate in time for the Tour's Grand Départ in Barcelona, but the former knows they also need time to breathe and score wins for themselves along the way.
"It's really important if they can form a strong connection, that's a critical part of this plan," said Dempster. "I feel that the plan was set up with touch points, but if we put them both in the race the whole season, it's also stupid, because they can't always win, and hopefully they're winning at similar times. We want them both on their trajectory.
"There are some training camps together to form that connection, which will be really, really critical. I'm confident that they're two good kids, and they understand that there's plenty of other people in different jerseys that we have to fight – they don't have to fight between each other."
Evenepoel in search of new heights
Four-time Tour winner Pogačar remains the benchmark for Evenepoel and Red Bull to chase, and the Belgian knows there is ground still to make up to get to his level. With that in mind, he's changed teams from QuickStep to Red Bull and coach from Koen Pilgrim to Dan Lorang, and is already feeling the affects from one of the highest-budget teams' attention to detail.
"It was quite a big change. I think everything is going well for the moment. The biggest difference is that we are starting with some efforts already in the second week of training, and especially the third week," he said. "Whereas before I was used to riding a month with just riding, but now we try to open up the volume straight away, so that’s the biggest change.
"We also have a lot of communication together. When the hard training sessions are, we speak every day, so that’s really good, and it’s sometimes good to change some things. I had really good years with Koen, a lot of very nice moments and victories that are mostly thanks to him and his training, but now it’s time for a new chapter and a new coach, and hopefully to become a better rider."
On the aforementioned blueprint of taking down the almighty Slovenian with Lipowitz and Evenepoel in tandem, Dempster was cautious about its potential success, not for a moment underestimating the challenge that will come their way at the Tour.
"Yeah, of course [it's an idea], but I mean, if he rides you off the wheel, maybe not. So there's always that," added Dempster to Cyclingnews.
"Co-leader strategy is one based on the fact that we have such a strong team, and Remco and Lipo's connection to the Tour de France is a really strong one. It was a no-brainer for us to make that decision."
Reading into Evenepoel's language, too, points at how he is under no illusions about the difficult challenge of beating Pogačar.
"Everybody knows that Tadej has been really outstanding the last few years, so for us it’s just a goal as a team and individually as well to come as close as possible and to hopefully one day win it," said Evenepoel.
"For us, it’s really important to go to the Tour this year with a really strong team, to prove to ourselves that we have a big future for this race, that we can win it with the team at some point.
"For myself, I will just try to improve myself as much as possible. There are a lot of new things that I learned in this team that I am doing in this team as well, so I think all of these things will help me to become a better rider, and I hope it’s going to be enough."
Whether or not he, or indeed Lipowitz, can get to where they want and need to be if they are going to defeat Pogačar will unfold over the next seven months, but what's certain is that the Remco Evenepoel era at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is truly underway – first stop: the Mallorca Challenge team time trial.
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