In a statement published on its website, Soudal said, “Representatives of Remco informed the team’s management that he did not wish to discuss an extension of his current agreement, which expires at the end of 2026. After taking some time to consult with our sponsors and partners, the team’s ownership and management have decided that it is in the best interest of everyone to agree that Remco can move at the end of the current 2025 season.”
The statement went on to declare: “We strongly believe in the team spirit that earned us the title of the Wolfpack and we will continue to strive to be a collective that is stronger than any one individual.”
For its part, Red Bull said in a statement, “A new chapter begins for one of the most defining riders of his generation: Remco Evenepoel will wear the Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe jersey from the upcoming season onward.”
Team CEO Ralph Denk was quoted as saying, “Remco stands for ambition. He doesn’t just want to ride – he wants to shape cycling. He brings not only exceptional athletic talent but also a remarkable mindset. His determination, professionalism, and relentless drive to succeed are truly inspiring.”
No other details were released about the transfer, which comes with one year left on Evenepoel’s contract with Soudal. The UCI Arbitral Board will now carry out a review of the premature contract termination, and Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe will have to pay minimum compensation to Soudal Quick-Step of at least six months of Evenepoel’s salary. According to domestiquecycling.com, the world and Olympic time trial champion earns €5 million a year, so the move will cost Red Bull at least €2.5. But probably quite a bit more.
After so much talk and whispering, the announcement of the transfer was something of an anti-climax. Evenepoel made no secret of his desire for Soudal to bring in more super-domestiques to help him win the Tour de France. The team did bring in Mikel Landa and, this year, Valentin Paret-Peintre. But Landa was seriously injured in the Giro d’Italia and will probably be out for the rest of the year, Jai Hindley crashed out early, and Evenepoel came into this year’s Tour far from his best and eventually dropped out. But his time trial win was one of four Soudal stage wins in the Tour, with Paret-Peintre taking a famous victory on Mont Ventoux.
Evenepoel will be joining a team loaded with lots of money and ambition. It will give him whatever he wants – and he wants to win the Tour – so look for lots of signings of accomplished Grand Tour domestiques before the end of the year. It already has the 2022 Giro d’Italia winner Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov, but they will not be enough to beat UAE Team Emirates or Visma–Lease a Bike on the mountains. Frankly, I don’t think anyone they will sign will be enough, because a Grand Tour always comes down to a mano a mano, and Evenepoel is not and, I believe, will never be able to beat Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard on the big mountains.
But what about Primož Roglič, whom Red Bull signed in 2024 to win the Tour? He crashed out in his first year with the team and finished eighth this year. It’s highly unlikely that he will want to ride as a domestique for Evenepoel, nor should he. His contract expires on December 31, and there is already a lot of speculation about his future plans. He will turn 36 in October, and his dream of winning the Tour is now definitively over; that was evident from the manner he rode the race this year. I’m guessing that he will retire.
And what about the young German star Florian Lipowitz, who finished a very impressive third in the Tour de France this year? Will he want to return to his former role as domestique for the team’s new GC leader, a leader who never finished better than third in the Tour himself? Lipowitz’s contract also expires at the end of this year, but the German team will be very reluctant to see the most successful German rider in nearly 30 years leave. Perhaps they will offer Lipowitz the chance to win the Giro d’Italia and/or the Vuelta a España.
Soudal Quick-Step will presumably cease trying to win Grand Tours and return to its highly successful strategy of winning stages and green jerseys, a strategy devised by former team boss Patrick Lefevere, who retired at the beginning of this year. This year, Soudal Quick-Step became the first professional cycling team to notch 1,000 victories. They have already taken a big step in that direction by signing Milan–San Remo winner Jasper Stuyven from Lidl-Trek and Edward Planckaert from Alpecin-Deceuninck. I think they will do very well despite Evenepoel’s departure. Call it a win-lose result for the team.
The big question is whether Remco will achieve his Tour de France dream with his new team. Time will tell, but it’s sure to be dramatic.
