It's official: Evenepoel is racing Flanders. So what does that mean?

Remco Evenepoel and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have finally let the cat out of the bag. Four months after initial reports suggested that Evenepoel would make his debut at the Tour of Flanders only to have both rider and team say that it wouldn't be happening this year, Evenepoel has confirmed that De Ronde is on the docket after all.

"I will be riding the Tour of Flanders this year," Evenepoel said in a segment recorded all the way back in December as part of a YouTube video released on Wednesday. "I'm doing a secret recon, [wearing] full black because I cannot wear my Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe clothes at the moment and also when this video comes out I cannot be in the clothes or previous years."

In other words, months of denials, including one just this past weekend, were all a ruse. Evenepoel has been preparing for the Tour of Flanders all along.

"The connection between Remco and the Tour of Flanders is deep and emotional," team boss Ralph Denk said in a statement. "A plan like this does not come together overnight. We deliberately kept it under the radar to create a special moment for the fans – revealing it as a surprise on April 1."

So what does it all mean? Can a Flanders debutant with limited experience of racing on the pavé really win the biggest bike race in Belgium?

Maybe.

Not the favorite – but a legitimate contender

The case for Evenepoel as a Flanders contender comes down to his skillset and his status as a member of the extremely select group of riders good enough to consistently win races in the rarified air of 2026. A two-time winner at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Evenepoel is among the best of the best in the sport when it comes to repeated efforts on punchy climbs, and he has even had success in races with at least a few cobbled challenges along the route, having triumphed at Brabantse Pijl last year.

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