Remco Evenepoel has announced his long-awaited transfer to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe on Tuesday. The Olympic champion will not complete his contract with Soudal Quick-Step and will move to the German formation next year.
Evenepoel had a contract with Soudal Quick-Step until the end of next year. According to the Belgian team, Evenepoel did not want to extend that contract and it was “in everyone’s best interest to let Remco go at the end of this season.” The transfer had been in the works for some time.
Soudal Quick-Step says it “regrets” that Evenepoel is leaving the team after seven years. Evenepoel has not yet reacted to his transfer. It is not yet clear for how many years he has signed with his new team.
The 25-year-old Evenepoel broke through as a stage racer and time trialist at Soudal Quick-Step. He became Olympic champion and world champion on both the road and in the time trial, won the Vuelta a España in 2022 and finished third in the Tour de France last year.
Evenepoel is currently going through a tough season. The Belgian had to rehabilitate for months after a serious crash at the end of last year, in which he collided with a postal vehicle. He gave up in the Tour after two weeks. He was in third place in the standings at that time, but did not want to continue after three bad days in a row.
At Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Evenepoel sees himself surrounded by many climbers, something that was often lacking at Soudal Quick-Step. The German formation includes Florian Lipowitz, the number three of the Tour, under contract. Primoz Roglic also rides for the team, but his contract expires after this season.