Remco Evenepoel does enter Tour of Flanders after all and confirms debut himself

In truth, there had barely been a genuine “yes or no” discussion at all, because Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe had repeatedly rejected the idea of Evenepoel making his debut in the Tour of Flanders. Even though the Belgian had already reconned De Ronde late last year together with Gianni Vermeersch, he too had always played down the rumours.

Team boss Ralph Denk recently summed up that position clearly, saying there was a defined plan for Evenepoel and that, while all of Belgium would love to see him race the country’s biggest one-day event, the moment had not yet come. That matched what Evenepoel himself had said back in December, when he stated that the Tour of Flanders would have to wait because he wanted to follow a more “normal season” after a busy year.

Just a few days later, the picture looks completely different. Several media outlets had already reported the news before Evenepoel confirmed it himself on Instagram. “Flanders, are you ready? See you on Sunday,” he wrote, which means yet another superstar will line up for the Monument alongside names such as Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen.

Van Aert welcomed the news warmly in comments carried by Sporza. The Belgian said Evenepoel was more than welcome, called it great news and added that he hoped it was not an April Fools’ joke. He also said he was not especially surprised, because he had already had the feeling that it might happen.

Former team-mate Yves Lampaert was not shocked either. He said he had already heard the story back in February and had believed the rumours at the time, even when others did not. Lampaert also made it clear that, in his view, Evenepoel will not be heading to Flanders just to make up the numbers. If he starts, he expects him to be racing for a result.