Remco Evenepoel switched from Soudal Quick-Step to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe last winter. "A good decision," says Alberto Contador. The former top climber, who won the Tour de France twice during his cycling career, believes Evenepoel can further develop his climbing skills with his new team.
"He has moved to a very strong team that has everything," Contador said at the Velofollies bike fair to Sporza. "With Roglic, Lipowitz – who finished third in the Tour last year – Hindley, Vlasov... And the team has the right people to help Remco improve on long climbs. He made the right choice. We’ll see what Remco’s level will be once he progresses further. Can he stay at the top every day in a Grand Tour with stages featuring two to three climbs?"
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe will head to the Tour de France next summer with two leaders: Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz. Although Contador was himself involved in an internal battle for team leadership with Lance Armstrong in the 2009 Tour de France, the now 43-year-old Spaniard does not foresee major problems within the Red Bull squad. "You can see their values for the Tour. You can make a decision with more certainty than 10 to 15 years ago," he commented.
Playing the options
Moreover, Contador thinks Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe can benefit from their squad depth. "They have to play with their options. Roglic can take risks, Remco and Lipowitz will stay on wheels. But if they lose time, they can switch tactics," states El Pistolero, although he is mistaken about the German team’s Tour selection. Roglic will only race the Vuelta a España in 2026, not the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France.
On Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s longlist for the Tour de France, besides Evenepoel and Lipowitz, there are also strong climbers like Jai Hindley and Daniel Felipe Martínez. "If you want to beat Pogacar, you have to play with your options. If there had been a 200 km time trial, that would be a different case. But otherwise, it’s hard to beat Tadej when he’s at his best," Contador concludes.
Remco Evenepoel| Race | Date |
|---|---|
 Trofeo Ses Salines | 29 Jan |
| Volta Comunitat Valenciana | 4 Feb - 8 Feb |
 UAE Tour | 16 Feb - 22 Feb |
| Volta Ciclista a Catalunya | 23 Mar - 29 Mar |
 Amstel Gold Race | 19 Apr |
| Liège-Bastogne-Liège | 26 Apr |
 Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes | 7 Jun - 14 Jun |
| Tour de France | 4 Jul - 26 Jul |
 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | 11 Sep |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | 13 Sep |
| UCI World Championship Montréal TT | 20 Sep |
| UCI World Championship Montréal | 27 Sep |
