Cycling
Spain can wait: Remco Evenepoel bypasses La Vuelta for his next big goal
Rather than grinding for three weeks on the Spanish asphalt, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe’s Remco Evenepoel is locking in on another target for 2026.
La Vuelta a España is about to start, and one of the biggest names in the peloton and a former winner of the Spanish Grand Tour is missing from the start list. Remco Evenepoel will not be lining up in Monaco, instead favouring rest and specific training as he prepares for the upcoming UCI Road World Championships in Montréal this September.
Since the start of the season, Evenepoel has had his eyes fixed on the World Championships. He heads to the time trial as the out-and-out favourite, and the punchy road race course suits his aggressive racing style - meaning this year’s event presents a unique opportunity for the Belgian: victory in the time trial and the road race.
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A potentially career-defining season for Evenepoel
Evenepoel’s season has already been a huge success. With two stage wins and second place overall at the Tour de France, a fourth win at Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa, victory at the Amstel Gold Race, and a third-place finish at his first attempt at the Tour of Flanders, 2026 already looks like a career-defining year for the Belgian.
Evenepoel was delighted with his third-place finish at the Tour de France
© Maximilian Fries/Red Bull Content Pool
It’s clear that Evenepoel’s level has stepped up once again. Patxi Villa, sports director at Evenepoel’s Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe squad, told TNT Sports after the Tour de France: “I think the Remco we saw in this Tour is the best version ever.”
Evenepoel’s strong finish to the Tour de France and subsequent victory in San Sebastián the week after show that he finished his lap of France in flying form. He told reporters after the final podium in Paris: “I still feel pretty fresh, with no real fatigue. I think that's good and I think we will take that towards the future”.
It wouldn’t be uncommon for a rider in such great condition to start La Vuelta, as we saw Jonas Vingegaard do in 2025, and as Tadej Pogačar will do this year.
However, while Evenepoel could have chosen to capitalise on this form and launch a bid for a second overall victory in La Vuelta, there is a good reason why he chose to skip the Grand Tour.
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The reason Evenepoel is skipping La Vuelta
Evenepoel’s decision to miss La Vuelta comes as little surprise
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
The last time the elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships was won by a rider who had raced La Vuelta was in 2022, when Evenepoel himself triumphed. Having claimed victory in Spain, he travelled just a matter of days later to Wollongong in Australia, where he finished third in the elite men’s time trial and claimed victory in the road race.
Traditionally, La Vuelta was seen as a perfect road to the World Championships, with riders using the three-week race as a solid block of training. In 2009, rider David Millar even said: "I think if you haven’t done the Vuelta, you haven’t got a chance" when asked who to watch at the upcoming World Championships.
Despite this, Evenepoel’s decision to miss the Spanish Grand Tour comes as little surprise. The 2026 edition starts in Monaco and meanders its way down to the finale in Granada 21 stages later, taking the peloton over a total of almost 59,000 meters of elevation, whereas the 2022 edition that Evenepoel won featured 10,000 meters less climbing. With seven summit finishes, high temperatures, and a start list including Pogačar, 2026 is set to be a particularly tough edition.
When the race concludes on September 13, any rider looking to challenge for the rainbow jersey will have just two weeks to recover and travel to Canada before the elite men’s road race, and only one week between the end of La Vuelta and the elite men’s time trial.
All of these factors, plus the fact that Evenepoel already has a Tour de France in his legs, another difference to 2022, where La Vuelta was the only Grand Tour on his calendar, and the decision to rest, train, and go straight to Canada make even more sense. Equally, Evenepoel’s preference for specific, quality training over the chaos of racing to build form is a tried-and-tested formula.
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What will Evenepoel do during La Vuelta?
It’s a well-known fact just how focused, disciplined, and effective Evenepoel’s training can be. His extended break from racing between Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour de France in favour of several altitude camps to prepare for Le Tour raised some eyebrows. However, any doubts were silenced when Evenepoel delivered some world-class performances in the high mountains, dominated the time trial, and finished on the overall podium.
Evenepoel is currently training at altitude in Livigno
© Maximilian Fries/Red Bull Content Pool
Evenepoel’s Strava shows that he is currently training at high altitude in Livigno with his Belgian national teammate Quinten Hermans and, surprisingly, one of his main rivals for the road race, Mathieu Van Der Poel. By training at altitude where the air is thinner, riders can force greater physiological adaptations in red blood cell production and more efficient muscular oxygen utilisation, meaning they can make greater performance gains than they would at sea level.
Whilst Evenepoel does not make all his training publicly available on the platform, his 124km ride uploaded on August 15 is titled ‘Project Canada’, making his ambition clear.
Before the World Championship time trial and road race, Evenepoel is currently scheduled to race two Canadian one-day races; the GP Québec and the GP Montréal. This double-header of World Tour races will be the final dress rehearsal for the Belgian before his bid to win both the time trial and road race elite men’s world titles.
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Evenepoel has long targeted dual success at the World Championships
Evenepoel is chasing glory in the time trial and road race in Montreal
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
At Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe’s 2026 team launch in Mallorca back in December 2025, Evenepoel looked almost a year ahead to the World Championships when he told the press: “For sure, in the time trial I will always be there, and the road race is a very nice opportunity. It’s another big goal for me, and I will try to be there at more than 100 percent to try and go for a double.”
Evenepoel goes to Montréal as the out-and-out favourite for the time trial. Already a three-time world champion as well as being the current Olympic champion, Evenepoel dominated the time trial on stage 16 of the Tour de France.
The road race, however, is much harder to predict. This goal has been in the Belgian’s mind for a long time. Whilst even the best preparation can be undone by positioning, tactics, weather, or one perfectly timed attack, Evenepoel’s objective is crystal clear: a double World Championship victory.
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