Remco Evenepoel won't race the Giro d'Italia in 2026 and has instead opted for a "normal" run into the Tour de France during his first season with new team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
The German team revealed on Wednesday that the Olympic champion will start as GC co-leader at the Tour, alongside third-place finisher from the 2025 edition, Florian Lipowitz.
Evenepoel joined Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as a marquee signing from Soudal-QuickStep after breaking his contract a year early this summer.
Evenepoel will also make a surprisingly early start to the season at the team time trial race of the Mallorca Challenge, before heading to the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
Unfortunately for Belgian fans of the cobbled Classics, he won't make his debut at the Tour of Flanders, and will instead be racing the Volta a Catalunya in the spring.
However, he will intend to do at least some of the Ardennes Classics, wtih Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège on the agenda, whilst a Flèche Wallonne start may also come, depending on the weather at the race which can be cold and wet.
"I'm very happy with the change, it's been quite a long process to get it done, but I'm very happy," said the Belgian.
"I think it's a team that suits me very well and my character and my ambitions.
"No," is how he initially responded to the question of his full schedule, before he then said, "I will race all of the Grand Tours," continuing to toy with the large media presence before revealing parts of his plans.
"I'll start with TTT in Mallorca, then go to Valencia, then after that we will still decide. I'll do Catalunya and then Ardennes,"
Evenepoel explained that he would not be doing the Tour of Flanders, as it's a "normal season we want to have."
"I just want a good season, which is easy-going with not so many crazy things, and I hope to end the season with no interruptions. The future plan will be the future plan."
With Evenepoel and Lipowitz taking the reins in France, Primož Roglič will lead Red Bull at the Vuelta, while former Giro winner Jai Hindley and rising Italian GC talent Giulio Pellizzari take on the Giro.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe presented their top riders' schedules to the media in Binissalem, 20 minutes north of Palma on the Balearic Island of Mallorca, with Evenepoel flanked by Lipowitz, Roglič, team boss Ralph Denk and Chief of Sports Zak Dempster on stage.
Evenepoel has been training in Soudal-QuickStep kit throughout his first training camp with the team after arriving in Mallorca on Saturday, as his time with the Belgian outfit officially ends on January 1.
However, he has already been spotted on a newly gold-detailed Red Bull Specialized Tarmac SL8, to recognise his status as the Olympic champion from Paris 2024.
