Remco Evenepoel just walked away from the team that made him a star. Red Bull reportedly paid millions to make it happen. And now cycling’s most ambitious superteam has one mission: beat Tadej Pogačar.
Here’s how the biggest transfer in years went down—and why it might actually work.
He Broke His Contract to Leave
Evenepoel had one year left on his Soudal-QuickStep deal. He didn’t want to stay.
In August 2025, his representatives told QuickStep management he wasn’t interested in discussing an extension. The Belgian squad, recognizing the writing on the wall, negotiated a release rather than forcing an unhappy star to serve out his contract.
Under Belgian law, breaking that contract required somewhere between €5-7 million. Red Bull covered it—plus whatever additional sweetener QuickStep demanded to let their franchise rider walk early.
The exact figure remains undisclosed, but sources suggest the total package made this one of the most expensive transfers in cycling history.
He Didn’t Leave Alone
When Evenepoel moved, he brought his inner circle with him.
Former QuickStep teammate Mattia Cattaneo followed as a key domestique. Directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck joined the management staff. Soigneur David Geeroms and mechanic Dario Kloek completed the entourage.
Red Bull didn’t just buy a rider. They bought an entire support infrastructure built around Evenepoel’s specific needs and preferences. That’s how seriously they’re taking this project.
The Superteam Is Stacked
Look at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Grand Tour roster for 2026:
- Remco Evenepoel — Olympic champion, Vuelta winner, two-time Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion
- Primož Roglič — Four-time Vuelta winner, former Tour podium finisher
- Florian Lipowitz — Third place, 2025 Tour de France
- Jai Hindley — 2022 Giro d’Italia winner
- Giulio Pellizzari — Sixth at both Giro and Vuelta in 2025
- Aleksandr Vlasov — Elite climbing domestique
- Dani Martínez — Former Dauphiné winner, proven Grand Tour support
On paper, this rivals UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike for sheer firepower. Red Bull finally has the depth to attack Pogačar from multiple angles.
The Pogačar Problem
Evenepoel knows exactly what he’s up against. He finished third at his Tour de France debut in 2024, behind Pogačar and Vingegaard. The gap wasn’t close.
“I want to be better than Pogačar,” Evenepoel said bluntly after joining Red Bull. “That’s why I came here.”
But he also knows individual talent probably isn’t enough. In a revealing interview, Evenepoel pointed to the 2022 Tour de France as the blueprint for beating the Slovenian.
“I was a bit afraid to say it on the podium, because Primož was standing next to us,” he admitted. That year, Jumbo-Visma used Vingegaard and Roglič in tandem to isolate Pogačar, attacking repeatedly until the UAE leader cracked.
The lesson? Collective strength beats individual brilliance. Red Bull is betting Evenepoel and Lipowitz can replicate that strategy.
The Awkward Roglič Situation
Here’s where things get complicated.
Primož Roglič still has a contract with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. He’s 36 years old, a four-time Vuelta champion, and not ready to become anyone’s domestique.
But the team has made clear: Evenepoel and Lipowitz will share leadership at the 2026 Tour de France. Roglič, meanwhile, is “going all in” for a record fifth Vuelta title.
Translation: Roglič won’t be at the Tour. Whether that’s his choice or the team’s remains diplomatically unclear.
“We haven’t talked to Remco yet,” Roglič told Slovenian newspaper Delo. “I definitely want to sit down with him and talk. I think it’s very important that we have an open and fair relationship from the beginning.”
That’s the kind of statement that sounds cooperative but hints at unresolved tension. Two alpha GC riders on one team rarely ends smoothly.
The 2026 Plan
Red Bull has confirmed Evenepoel won’t race the 2026 Giro d’Italia. His entire season builds toward July.
At the Tour, he’ll share leadership with Lipowitz—the young German who surprised everyone with his third-place finish last year. Team management has suggested Lipowitz could eventually take sole leadership in week three if Evenepoel falters, a nod to the Belgian’s history of DNFs in Grand Tours.
It’s a pragmatic approach. Evenepoel’s talent is undeniable, but he’s never finished a Tour de France. Crashes and illness have derailed previous attempts. Having Lipowitz as insurance makes tactical sense, even if it slightly dents Evenepoel’s ego.
What He Left Behind
Evenepoel joined QuickStep straight from the junior ranks in 2019, skipping the traditional development pathway entirely. The team believed in him when he was still a teenager who’d recently quit football.
During his six seasons with QuickStep, Evenepoel won:
- 2022 Vuelta a España (overall)
- 2022 World Championship road race
- 2024 Olympic road race gold
- 2024 Olympic time trial gold
- Two Liège-Bastogne-Liège titles
- Numerous smaller stage races and time trials
“I will forever be grateful,” Evenepoel said in his farewell statement. The gratitude seems genuine. But gratitude doesn’t win Tours, and Evenepoel clearly believes Red Bull offers a better chance at the yellow jersey.
Can It Work?
Superteams in cycling have a mixed record. Sometimes the talent gels and dominates (Sky/Ineos for a decade). Sometimes egos collide and the project implodes (various iterations of Movistar).
Red Bull’s advantage is clarity of purpose. Everyone knows the goal: beat Pogačar at the Tour de France. Roglič gets his Vuelta. Evenepoel and Lipowitz get their shot at yellow. The roles are defined—at least on paper.
Whether that holds when Evenepoel is struggling on a mountain and Lipowitz is flying remains to be seen. Grand Tour racing has a way of exposing cracks in team unity.
But if the plan works? If Evenepoel and Lipowitz can genuinely pressure Pogačar the way Vingegaard and Roglič once did? Red Bull might have just bought themselves a Tour de France victory.
The price tag was enormous. The gamble is even bigger.
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