‘A nice gesture’: Evenepoel’s development team lands bpost as main sponsor

It has been a little over a year since Remco Evenepoel was left badly shaken up after a heavy training crash. The Belgian, who was still riding for Soudal Quick-Step at the time, hit the opening door of a delivery van and sustained serious injuries. That incident is now firmly in the past — and remarkably, the company involved has become a sponsor of the R.EV Brussels Cycling Academy, the development set-up owned by the world time trial champion.

The crash happened during a training ride in December 2024. Evenepoel rode past a van from Belgian postal and delivery service bpost, and at the exact moment he passed, the door swung open. The two-time Olympic champion had no chance to avoid impact and collided hard with the door. The outcome: a broken shoulder blade, a broken hand and fractured ribs.

But that same incident has helped the youth programme led by Evenepoel secure a new partner. “All of us felt it was very important to give it a positive spin,” bpost spokesperson Mathieu Goedefroy explained to Het Laatste Nieuws. “That’s how we first came up with the ‘Remco Reflex’, which was already a first wink towards the R.EV Brussels Cycling Academy.”

The ‘Remco Reflex’ was an internal initiative aimed at bpost employees. After the crash, the company put renewed emphasis on road safety and distributed more than 100,000 stickers featuring Evenepoel to postal workers, to be placed on the inside of vehicle doors. The idea was to encourage drivers to check their mirror first before opening the door.

“From there, the idea grew that we might be able to do even more for each other,” Goedefroy added. “On a longer-term, permanent basis. In a conversation between Remco’s father Patrick Evenepoel and our CEO Chris Peeters, the Academy quickly came up again — because we share the same values and philosophy.” And that is how the partnership was made official.

“On top of that, we share a passion for the bicycle,” the Belgian continued. “All Belgian postmen and women combined cover around 20,000 kilometres a day on bikes. That’s like riding from here to China and back. Those people obviously care deeply about road safety — and that’s also an important theme within the R.EV Brussels Cycling Academy.”

Evenepoel is pleased that something awful has been turned into something positive. “A nice gesture,” said the Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe star about the deal. “It’s great that bpost wants to do its part in this way. The more sponsors we bring in, the better. It can only benefit the future of our project.”

For the Belgian, the incident is now behind him. “In the end, everything turned out pretty well. I don’t have to think anymore about what happened in the past — I can look forward again fully. That only makes it positive.”