Evenepoel looks to Visma’s 2022 Tour masterplan to challenge Pogacar

During the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team media day in Spain, Evenepoel was asked if he and Lipowitz could use inspiration from Jumbo-Visma’s performance in 2022, which saw Jonas Vingegaard beat Tadej Pogačar to the yellow jersey.

Most notably on stage 11, when Vingegaard and Primož Roglič combined to repeatedly attack on the Col du Galibier, before the Dane landed a hammer blow to the Slovenian on the Col du Glandon, setting him up for his first Tour de France overall win.

"I think this is the best example. Two very strong riders against somebody alone, but very strong. I think Tadej has improved since then also, but I think it's the best example for us, the way that Jonas and Primož did it back then," said Evenepoel, whose 2026 schedule was announced on Wednesday.

"It doesn't mean that we have to attack from the bottom of a climb, one-by-one every single time, but there are multiple tactics that we can use. Florian and I are different types of riders in terms of tactics and approaching a race. But I think two completely different people when they come together can be a very good combination."

Evenepoel occupied the third position on the podium during the 2025 Tour until he abandoned the race on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenées, which saw Lipowitz move onto the podium, and the German would remain there until Paris. 

With Evenepoel finishing 3rd the year prior, the duo are the most recent riders to join Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard on the podium, two riders who have been operating in a league of their own in recent editions. Evenepoel remained realistic about challenging Pogačar in 2026 but was ambitious about the team's future prospects.

"I think everybody who has opportunities to win Grand Tours wants to win the Tour. Tadej has been really outstanding these last few years, so for us, it's just a goal as a team and individually to come as close as possible and hopefully one day be able to win it," Evenepoel explained.

"It's important for us 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 as a team at some point."

Beforehand, Evenepoel will begin his 2026 campaign at the Mallorca Challenge, a race that normally wouldn’t have been part of the plans for the Belgian. However, the event kicks off with a team time trial, an important opportunity to prepare for the Tour’s opening stage on July 4, which is a 19.7km team time trial.

"I was supposed to not do it, but I think it's a good opportunity with the Tour that is starting with a TTT. It's going to be a very big day, the first one of the Tour, so I think we are going to race the Mallorca TTT like it's the first stage of the Tour," said Evenepoel, who also confirmed that the team view the opening stages as an opportunity to strike for gold.

"The first three or four days are really good for us to try and grab a stage win, and we are aiming to take yellow on day 1, that would be really nice."

Discussing his schedule, Evenepoel revealed there had been serious consideration of a Giro-Tour double, particularly with the inclusion of a 40km flat time trial, which he had previously suggested to tailor-made for the Olympic and three-time World Champion in the discipline.

"The biggest discussion was going for the Giro-Tour combination, because I felt like the Giro parcours was a really good one for me, with a very beautiful TT. In the end, we decided to try and have a normal, basic season, and really grow as a rider this year without any interruptions," he said.

The Tour of Flanders was also touted as a potential target for the Belgian the upcoming season, but whilst he won't race the Cobbles in 2026, he didn't rule the prospect out for future seasons.

" In the end, we decided to try and have a normal, basic season, and really grow as a rider this year without any interruptions… That doesn’t mean that in the future we will not go [there], so I will be there one day, but not this year," said Evenepoel.

His spring campaign will include the Ardennes Classics, with Evenepoel confirming, "Amstel and Liège for sure, Fleche [Wallonne] we will see with the weather."