Remco Evenepoel

Junior career

In 2017, Evenepoel began cycling full-time. Initially, he was coached by Fred Vandervennet, former three-time Belgian marathon champion and friend of his father. In his first races, Evenepoel struggled with bike handling and riding in groups, with youth teammate Danny van der Tuuk recalling Evenepoel "couldn't finish races" because of how often he crashed. His first win came in his tenth race as a junior. He won both the time trial and road race at the 2018 European Junior Road Cycling Championships. The gap between him and the second place rider in the road race was 9 minutes and 44 seconds over a distance of 118.8 km. Later in the year, Evenepoel also won both the road race and the time trial at the UCI Junior Road World Championships.

Deceuninck–Quick-Step

2019 — professional debut

Electing to skip the under-23 ranks, Evenepoel announced in July 2018 that he would join Deceuninck–Quick-Step for the 2019 season. For his first season, Evenepoel was scheduled to compete in shorter stage races, and skipped the cobbled, one-day Classic races. In his debut race, the Vuelta a San Juan, Evenepoel won the young rider classification and 9th overall whilst also winning his first professional podium in the stage 3 time trial behind teammate Julian Alaphilippe and Valerio Conti. Evenepoel's first professional victory came at the Tour of Belgium, where he won the general classification as well as a stage and the points classification. On 3…

Major results

General classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Major championships timeline

Records

Monument winner, Grand Tour winner and UCI World Champion in 1 year: 2022 (record shared with Alfredo Binda, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Tadej Pogacar) Winner of the UCI Junior Road World Championship and the UCI Road World Championship: 2018 and 2022 (record shared with Greg LeMond and Mathieu van der Poel) Most Clásica de San Sebastián wins: 4 Most Volta ao Algarve wins: 3 (record shared with Belmiro Silva) UCI World Champion in road race (2022) and time trial (2023): record shared with Abraham Olano Road race and time trial winner at the same edition of the Olympic Games (2024) UCI World Champion in road race (2022) & time trial (2023) and Olympic Champion in road race & time trial (2024) Most medals in Road World Championships (2025): 8

Honours and awards

Crystal Bicycle – Best Young Rider: 2018 Belgian Promising Talent of the Year 2018 Belgian Sportsman of the Year: 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Crystal Bicycle – Best Professional Cyclist: 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Flandrien of the Year: 2022, 2024, 2025 Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 2022 Vélo d'Or: 2022 VeloNews Male Road Rider of the Year: 2022 Vlaamse Reus: 2022 Flemish Sportsjewel: 2022 HLN/VTM Belgian of the Year: 2022, 2024 A statue on the Fóia mountain in Portugal was based on Evenepoel's victory in stage 2 of the 2020…

Remco Evenepoel was born on 25 January 2000 in Aalst, Belgium to Agna and Patrick Evenepoel. His father was briefly a professional cyclist, best known for winning the 1993 Grand Prix de Wallonie, before working as a plasterer, while his mother was a hairdresser. Evenepoel started his sporting career as a football player, joining R.S.C. Anderlecht's youth academy at the age of five. At eleven, he switched to PSV Eindhoven before returning to Anderlecht three years later. Among his teammates in the PSV youth teams were Jay Idzes, Rico Zeegers and Sekou Sidibe. Evenepoel played primarily as a defensive midfielder and left back. At one point, he was considered one of Belgium's most promising talents, making nine appearances for Belgium's U15 and U16 teams. Although Evenepoel himself admitted in 2020 he "didn't have the best technique", he was well regarded for his stamina and leadership, captaining both Anderlecht and Belgium's youth teams. During this time, Evenepoel also showed promise as a runner. At age 16, without any dedicated training, he entered the Brussels Half-Marathon, running the day after a football match, and finished 13th in 1:16:15. After suffering a pelvic fracture during a match, his football career took a downturn and he was released by Anderlecht in 2016. Evenepoel joined KV Mechelen, who were prepared to offer him a professional contract after another six months, but Evenepoel instead chose to quit and pursue cycling full-time.

Evenepoel is the son of former professional cyclist Patrick Evenepoel, best known for winning the Grand Prix de Wallonie in 1993. In 2022, Evenepoel married Oumaïma Rayane, who he met in high school. Following Evenepoel's December 2024 injury, he stated on social media that he drew strength from his wife's Islamic faith, saying "It's something that helps me go through life and it's something very, very beautiful." Evenepoel is fluent in Dutch, French, and English.