Evenepoel faces immediate test on debut with Red Bull team time trial train, but what does it mean for the Tour?

The German squad line up on Wednesday for the Trofeo Calvià, a hilly 150-kilometre race with close to 3,000 metres of climbing. That event is expected to be more about giving younger, less experienced riders a chance to show themselves, rather than unleashing the headline names. One day later, however, the focus shifts completely, as the Trofeo Ses Salines takes centre stage — and in a very different format than usual.

Last year the race was won by Marijn van den Berg, but for 2026 the organisers have changed course: no flat sprint opportunity this time, but a team time trial. That immediately turns the day into a real systems check for July. The Tour de France starts with a team time trial in Barcelona on Saturday 4 July 2026, making the opening day a rare early-season reference point for teams already thinking about how to execute a collective effort under the biggest pressure.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe appear keen to treat Mallorca as an early “dress rehearsal” for that Tour start. Evenepoel is set to make his debut for the team on Thursday, and Florian Lipowitz will also be on the start list. In the team time trial they are joined by Mattia Cattaneo, Nico Denz, Gianni Moscon, Maxim Van Gils and Lorenzo Finn — a line-up that already looks like a carefully built engine room.

Are these also the names we should expect to see in the Tour de France squad? For now, it’s guesswork. What we do know is that eight riders will go to France in July, while Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe can only start seven riders in Mallorca. There’s also an important detail: the 19-year-old Finn still rides for the Red Bull Rookies set-up, and this Mallorca test therefore looks primarily like an opportunity for him to gain experience in a team time trial environment, rather than a definitive Tour indicator.

Notable names staying at home include Aleksandr Vlasov, Jai Hindley, Jan Tratnik, Finn Fisher-Black and Daniel Felipe Martínez — which underlines how careful it is to read too much into an early-season start list. One thing is certain: Evenepoel will complete the team time trial on his brand-new time trial bike. Once again it’s an S-Works machine for the world champion, with the colours of the rainbow jersey and references to his Olympic gold incorporated into the design. The look is striking — even if there’s slightly less gold than the bike he rode at Soudal Quick-Step.