Evenepoel signals intent with early Los Angeles 2028 Olympics recon

Remco Evenepoel hasn’t quite finished his duties for 2026, but his thoughts are already turning to future goals. 

While the 2027 Tour de France route was being presented in Paris on Thursday, Evenepoel was en route to the United States, where he has undertaken wind tunnel testing at Specialized headquarters at Morgan Hill.

The Belgian has been making full use of his time in California. On Sunday, he opted to perform a preliminary recon of the likely Los Angeles 2028 Olympics time trial, posting his effort on Strava under the title "LA 2028 ITT RECON."

The final details of the time trial route have yet to be confirmed in full, but the local organising committee has indicated that the event will be approximately 35km in length, starting at LA Zoo and finishing at Griffith Observatory.

In the company of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Luke Tuckwell, Evenepoel followed a 65km route on his road bike, incorporating the expected route of the Olympic course before finishing on the seafront in Santa Monica.

On Saturday, Evenepoel had participated in a Specialized social ride in the Los Angeles area, together with Tour Femmes, Giro d’Italia and world champion Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez).

Evenepoel is the reigning Olympic road race and time trial champion after completing an emphatic double at the Paris 2024 Games. He is likely to face a quick turnaround after the 2028 Tour de France when he bids to defend his titles in Los Angeles.

The Grand Départ of the 2028 Tour will shift to June due to the Olympics, which get under way on July 14.

The Tour is expected to finish on July 16, with the time trial in Los Angeles fixed for Wednesday, July 19. The men’s road race will take place on Saturday, July 23.

It remains to be seen if Evenepoel and others will forgo the 2028 Tour in order to focus on the Olympics, but it seems altogether more certain that the Belgian will line out in France next July after placing second to Tadej Pogacar this year. 

The 2027 Tour will feature 71km of time trialling, its highest quota since Bradley Wiggins claimed overall victory in 2012. Speaking to reporters at the presentation in Paris, Red Bull manager Ralph Denk acknowledged that Evenepoel “will not be unhappy” with the course.