'I've shown that I deserve to dream' – Remco Evenepoel silences sceptics with Tour de France runner-up sport

Remco Evenepoel, still only 26, boasts one of cycling’s all-time greatest palmarès. A Grand Tour win, two Olympic golds, four World Championships, a couple of Monuments, and third and now second on GC at the Tour de France.

Yet still doubt surrounds him. Still questions linger if the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider can cut it in the high mountains. Still debate rages if he’ll ever be a true contender to win the Tour de France.

The Belgian has just silenced most of them.

In his third Tour, and the second he’s completed, Evenepoel finished runner-up behind runaway winner Tadej Pogačar. There’s absolutely no shame in losing to the five-time winner and greatest of all time.

And it’s absolutely true that Evenepoel was the only rider in the race who bettered Pogačar. Not once, not twice, but three times. In winning stage 15’s stage up the HC climb of Plateau de Solaison, stage 16’s time trial, and finishing second to Pogačar’s fourth on Alpe d’Huez on stage 20.

Perhaps now Evenepoel, finally, will get the status he merits. “Maybe expectations from my the outside world were lower after my climbing level in the spring, so the UAE Tour and [Volta a] Catalunya, but from myself and also inside the team, we achieved what we were aiming for: to get a stage win and to finish on the podium like in 2024,” Evenepoel said in Paris, while drinking a sponsor-obligatory Red Bull.

“Two stage wins and two very nice second places [also on stage 10] in very hard stages, really shows that I’ve stepped up in terms of my climbing level and performances in the hardest stages.

“For me it was more the fact to prove to myself that I did well to not let go of my dream of stepping on the podium of Grand Tours as much as possible and aiming to try to win them because that’s my career goal.

“After this result I’ve shown towards myself, the team and also the outside world that I deserve to dream and aim for that.”

The scepticism over Evenepoel’s Grand Tour prospects mostly stem from him collapsing midway through the 2023 Vuelta when he was defending champion – only for him to respond by taking two stage victories and the mountains jersey – and a similar collapse, also on a stage involving the Col du Tourmalet, at the 2025 Tour.

This year, though, his first season away from Soudal Quick-Step, has heralded a change: he is leaner, and he forgo competing in stage races before the Tour in favour of spending longer at altitude. The changes worked.

“The fact is, I was still on a very good level on the second weekend and in the third week, in terms of my climbing performance,” Evenepoel reflected. “Stage 15 and also yesterday [stage 20] was really good, and on the climb in the time trial I did one of my best ever 15 minutes [power numbers].

“I think that showed my level at the end of the Tour was really good, and also that I showed no signs of cracking.

“After perfect preparation, I showed to myself and to the team that I was on a good level for three weeks and even now I feel pretty fresh with no real fatigue in the body. That’s good and we take that towards the future.”

The constant noise around Evenepoel is to be expected. He’s Belgian, after all, the only county in the world that often prioritises cycling over football. It’s also the country of Eddy Merckx, the greatest of all time until Pogačar came along, and so the comparisons between Evenepoel and Merckx are as inevitable as they are tedious and unhelpful.

Fervent speculation over his future was last year’s news – and in the many years before – and this year it was over his co-leadership with Florian Lipowitz. Wherever Evenepoel goes, whatever he does, there is a story. He generates additional headlines, too. He’s outspoken, he’s a footballer in a cyclist’s body, he’s an entertainer.

He’s also matured and settled into his status as one of the sport’s best. In 2024 he was in tears with his third place at the Tour; two years on he looks more comfortable on the podium – at home, even.

“I think back then it was special because it was my first Tour and then straight away I was on the podium and in the white jersey. It was actually something I did not dare to dream of at that point,” he said.

“Now we came into this Tour with the mindset of getting a stage and trying to step on the podium, and I just felt in control of myself during the whole Tour. The team as well, in control of how things went.

“Already I’ve had so many setbacks in my career that I kinda started to know how to deal with everything. I just know for myself that when everything goes well, I’ll always be calm and have control of situations.”

Pointing to his wife Oumi who was sat front row in his press conference, he continued: “It’s not because she’s sitting here, but it’s true that when I come home we almost never speak about cycling.

“I do my training but when my bike is in the garage we are not living in a cycling world, even though everything is done for cycling. I think we’re very good at managing the on-off button.”

Despite his more relaxed demeanour than two years ago, Evenepoel said that perceptions shouldn’t disguise his delight at his second spot at the Tour.

“It’s a very big achievement in my career, to come second behind the guy who equals the record [of most Tour wins]. It’s a really big honour to be on that podium, to live that moment, and it’s something special that maybe I can tell my kids that I was second in the edition where someone equalled the record. It’s something I’ll never forget.

“Even though I appear to be calm, I’m very happy and proud with everything I did in the last month.”