Rivals Beware: Remco Evenepoel’s New Team Is Flying

It’s early days yet in the new season but his rivals better watch out: Remco Evenepoel and his new team are in incredible form.

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad clocked up a victory each day for the past four days, beginning with a team time trial win in the Trofeo Ses Salines in Mallorca on Thursday, and then continuing with three other wins in the Challenge Mallorca races.

Evenepoel followed up the TTT success—where he was a major driver of the pace—with solo wins in the Trofeo Serra Tramutana on Friday and the Trofeo Andratx-Pollença on Saturday.

And while he then took a break, opting to rest and to return to racing on Wednesday for stage one of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana, teammate Arne Marit took over at the top on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Belgian, who has just moved across to the team after three years with the Intermarché squad, blasted home first in his opening race of the year.

He powered in ahead of Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team) and his own teammate Alessio Magagnotti at the end of the Trofeo Palma.

Marit’s success was due in part to an inspired move in the finale. He was supposed to led out Magagnotti but a big pile up with just more than 2km to go prompted him to improvise.

Many riders were left in contention but he positioned himself perfectly, bided his time, and went for it.

“The crash in the final corner changed the situation completely, so I made a quick decision to go all in,” he said. “From 300 metres out it was full gas. To end the week with four wins in five races is amazing for the whole team.

“Personally, after three years without a victory, this one means a lot to me. And finishing with Alessio on the podium as well is special – he’s a young rider with huge talent.”

A new momentum

It’s not just those two riders plus Evenepoel in fine form; the team has racked up four top-three finishes as well.

Finn Fisher-Black was second on stage 5 of the Santos Tour Down Under, while Laurence Pithie was third in the prologue and on stage 4.

In addition to that, Maxim Van Gils shared the podium with Evenepoel at the Trofeo Andratx-Pollença on Saturday.

DS Pello Olaberria voiced the upbeat mood after Sunday’s finish of the Trofeo Palma.

“Arne finished it off in an incredible way. To have Alessio third as well is just outstanding,” he said.

“It’s the perfect way to close such a successful week.”

There are many months of racing ahead, and quite some time before the key season targets. But riding as it is so early in the year is a big boost to the team, and will reinforce the improvements it has made since Red Bull came on board and started investing heavily in the setup.

It also underlines the perception that having a rider as ambitious as Evenepoel on board could rub off on the others.

The team was fourth in the WorldTour standings last season but if it keeps the early momentum up, the German super-squad could be poised for its biggest year to date.