Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe likely to target yellow jersey with Remco Evenepoel at 2027 Tour de France: 'This could be decisive'

"The first week promises to be intense, and staying out of trouble will be crucial," he says, referring to the tricky stages through Great Britain and northwestern France. "The long individual time trial at the end of that first week offers us a great opportunity to make a clear statement right away. This could be decisive with an eye toward the Alps in the second week."

"The second time trial is another highlight of this course," he says, referring to team leader Evenepoel's strengths. "We welcome the return of more individual time trial kilometers, as this adds an extra dimension to the race and makes the battle for the yellow jersey even more open and exciting. All in all, it’s a course that’s tailor-made for our strengths and gives us every reason to go for the yellow jersey."

The fact that there are also relatively few tough mountain stages could, combined with the time trial kilometres, work in Evenepoel’s favour. Team manager Ralph Denk isn’t ready to go that far just yet, as he told Sporza.

“I note that there are two time trials, and he’s the best in that discipline. He’ll certainly have something to say about it, but it’s too early to talk about our team’s lineup for the Grand Tours.”

"I see it as a well-balanced Tour with something for everyone. And there's a super-tough mountain stage in the Pyrenees coming up. The Giro d'Italia route will be announced on November 3, and then we'll take a look at everything," said the German.