Tadej Pogačar addressed the potential added challenge of Remco Evenepoel joining the list of competitors at the Spring Classics, and believes the Belgian would be more than capable, after rumours of him racing in Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders have gained traction in recent weeks.
Evenepoel revealed to Het Laatste Nieuws in November that he had a “Plan A and Plan B” for his 2026 season and first with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe – with one featuring the Giro-Tour double and the other containing a Classics campaign before the Tour. Speaking fittingly alongside the Lion of Flanders, Johan Museeuw, in that interview, his attitude to riding Belgium’s biggest race appears to have changed.
While Pogačar’s schedule is not yet known, he has spoken openly in recent weeks about how he’s once again targeting Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, and after Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has been the thorn in his side when it comes to taking victory in those races, he sees Evenepoel potentially doing similarly.
“We didn’t decide the calendar yet – at December training camp with the team, we will speak more about the program and race calendar, but my wish list for next year, for sure, is to go back to San Remo and Roubaix and try to compete for the victory there again,” Pogačar told a group of reporters including Cyclingnews in Gran Canaria last Friday.
“I think Remco could do a very good San Remo, even Roubaix and races like this. I think he can manage himself really well, and it would be an additional big competitor if he comes to San Remo, for example – one more rider to look at. If he decides to come, it will be difficult, once again, difficult to win.”
Speaking to Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel reiterated his desire for some new challenges in 2026, but how the Ardennes Classics remain a key part of the season for him. He’s already won Liège–Bastogne-Liège twice, and almost produced a stunning comeback win against Pogačar at Amstel Gold Race last year, losing out to him and Mattias Skjelmose in the sprint.
Looking at the announced route, the 40km stage 10 individual time trial in Tuscany could persuade Evenepoel to start – more than the 26km of ITT racing on offer at the Tour, but without the added opening 19km team time trial in Barcelona – but it’s unclear yet if it will be enough to convince him and Red Bull.
How could Evenepoel change the Spring Classics racing dynamic?
Pogačar has raced Roubaix once, in 2025, and San Remo five times, breaking the mould of Grand Tour riders not taking on the majority of the Classics, which developed throughout the 2010s outside of riders like Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde. At the latter, his pursuit of winning has seen the race dynamics change, with repeated explosive accelerations over the Cipressa and Poggio hurting the sprinters’ chance of having their typical Monument opportunity.
He’s never quite been able to drop Van der Poel, however, and has finished third in the previous two editions, with the Dutchman beating him and helping teammate Jasper Philipsen to the win. Evenepoel’s one-day explosivity could see him also able to follow if he takes on a highly-anticipated debut at La Classicissima in 2026, with the steep but short climbs perhaps not providing enough of a launch pad for the Slovenian.
Only Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna survived UAE’s brutal lead-out up the Cipressa in March, but it’s fair to say that a top-level Evenepoel would be expected to have the legs to follow should he start.
From there, he would benefit most in the flatter approach to the Poggio on the Ligurian coast, due to his aerodynamic advantage, and if things are completely blown up as they were this past season, this would reduce any potential positioning disadvantages Evenepoel could have on the Poggio.
As the adage goes, San Remo may be the easiest Monument to finish, but it remains the hardest to win – just ask Pogačar – but Evenepoel would then have a myriad of options if he makes it off the final Poggio descent safely. No one would be better for a late solo attack on the Via Roma, but his sprint also isn’t to be sniffed at – Evenepoel is definitely a potential winner at Milan-San Remo.
In Flanders, Pogačar’s excellence over the Oude Kwaremont – the longest climb on the route, which features three times – has been the difference maker and resulted in him distancing the likes of Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen in 2025 and 2023, so another Grand Tour winner in Evenepoel could have the best chance of matching his big move over the Flemish cobbles.
While an Evenepoel debut looks possible in 2026 at the Ronde, Pogačar has not yet said if he would be back to target a third title there, so the Olympic Champion could just become a new issue for the trio of stars mentioned above. If the Slovenian does defend his crown, he could join the likes of Van der Poel, Museeuw, Cancellara and Boonen on the record of three wins.
But either way, Evenepoel’s potential presence is vital in the current context of Belgian cycling, with no home rider winning the men’s Ronde since Philippe Gilbert in 2017. Van Aert has always fallen short, so could Evenepoel be the man to bring the men’s Tour of Flanders back under home control?
Pogačar proved in 2022 how impressive a more GC-focused rider could be on the cobbles of Flanders, finishing fourth on debut and only being outfoxed in a final two-up duel with Van der Poel that ultimately saw him lose the sprint and get overtaken by Dylan van Baarle and Valentine Madouas. Why would Evenepoel wait until the latter years of his career to find out if the Ronde is, in fact, a race he can win?
Should he do the Giro instead?
The Giro-Tour double does present an arguably equally interesting opportunity for Evenepoel, considering his history with that race and how it seems to be the better route to a potential second Grand Tour triumph as Pogačar solidifies his dominance at the Tour.
But is that enough of a reason to abandon his and Red Bull’s biggest goal? – to win the Tour and realise what many believe is his full potential. Competing for yellow is why Ralph Denk spent so many years chasing the Belgian’s signature, and after breaking his collarbone in 2024 before finishing third on debut, and having his full winter block of training undone in a tough crash this time last year that resulted in a DNF at the Tour, have we even seen his best at cycling’s biggest race?
The answer, realistically, is no – he still hasn’t had the ideal approach to the Tour, and still has heaps of room to develop into that at only 25 – so this should remain the focus. The 2026 Giro may, on paper, be “easier” to win, and yes, the 40km time trial will play massively into his strengths, but it’s still three weeks of the most brutal racing you can find, and it goes up similarly difficult climbs and perhaps with harsher conditions than the Tour.
It would be great for his career if he added a pink jersey to the red one he won in Spain in 2022, but Evenepoel would have to empty himself completely in May before tackling July and hoping to repeat what he did on debut. Yes, the Giro-Tour double can see riders thrive, such as Pogačar two years ago, but there is a reason why he was the first since Marco Pantani in 1998 to do so; six weeks of Grand Tour competition is as gruelling as it comes.
Not to mention, that just because Pogačar likely isn’t racing the Giro again next year, doesn’t mean the competition won’t be full of some of the very best climbers in the sport. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is heavily rumoured as a contender, and the likes of this year’s runner-up Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) could also be there, so Evenepoel would have almost as tough a task winning in Rome as he would in Paris.
Also, the Tour has been what he’s been building up to these past two years, and with Red Bull, their big budget and attention to detail should allow us to see exactly how good Evenepoel could be on a GC-focused team. This is in no disrespect to Soudal-QuickStep, either, but they did have to alter their identity in pursuit of Evenepoel’s GC ambitions, and I think they maximised what they could achieve with the Vuelta triumph.
As someone who has had several awful injuries and crashes in his still young career, too, Evenepoel knows that you must try and arrive at the Tour at your best if you are ever going to win it, before time runs out – potentially wasting energy on a Giro that he is as likely to lose doesn’t advance his chances, it hinders them.
Now I’m not making the calls at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe – this will be up to Zak Dempster, Ralph Denk and Evenepoel’s entourage to finalise – but I think a run at the Classics and trying to take down the likes of Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel at Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders is a much more likely route to success, and one which doesn’t impinge on his and the team’s Tour de France hopes.
December 10 and Red-Bull Bora-Hansgrohe’s media day in Mallorca will reveal all, so watch this space, but for me, the Classics seem the brighter path for Evenepoel, not the Giro-Tour double – at least, for now.