{"id":1773999,"date":"2026-02-15T17:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T14:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1773999"},"modified":"2026-02-15T17:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T14:12:18","slug":"remco-evenepoel-striving-to-improve-an-intriguing-stat-as-uae-tour-gets-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1773999","title":{"rendered":"Remco Evenepoel Striving to Improve an Intriguing Stat as UAE Tour Gets Underway"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Shane Stokes<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated February 15, 2026 05:26PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He\u2019s got 13 stage race victories thus far, yet just three of those are at WorldTour level. For Remco Evenepoel, the days ahead are all about trying to nudge that statistic in a better direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage of my career, WorldTour wins matter more to me than ProTour wins,\u201d the Belgian told Sporza on the eve of the UAE Tour.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel triumphed in the middle-eastern race back in 2023, beating Luke Plapp and Adam Yates to the overall title. That represents one of three GC successes at WorldTour level; the other two are the 2022 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, and the 2020 Tour de Pologne.<\/p>\n

So what do we make of that stat?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Evenepoel has had a brilliant career thus far, clocking up 72 pro victories to date. But, yes, it\u2019s both fair and relevant to analyze his GC successes. When compared to big rivals Tadej Poga\u010dar and Jonas Vingegaard, his palmares definitely skews in another direction.<\/p>\n

Consider Poga\u010dar: so far the Slovakian has raked up 19 GC triumphs at this point of his career. Of those, a staggering 14, or 73 percent, are at WorldTour level.<\/p>\n

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As for Vingegaard, his split is 64 percent: seven WorldTour wins out of 11 GC wins.<\/p>\n

In that light, Evenepoel\u2019s 23 percent tells a story. He\u2019s a winner, one of the sport\u2019s current top champions, but he\u2019s yet to scale the same heights as the other two.<\/p>\n

Winning the UAE Tour in the days ahead would represent another step upwards.<\/p>\n

\u2018My second family is Arabic\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Red
Evenepoel has had a superb start to the 2026 season with five wins thus far, and looks relaxed (Photo: Fadel Senna\/AFP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Evenepoel and the other race favorites faced the press on Sunday, speaking at the traditional pre-race press conference at Al Hudayriyat Island.<\/p>\n

He made clear he means business.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my goals this year is to win more one-week WorldTour races and the UAE Tour is an opportunity to do so with a time trial and hilly stages,\u201d he told the press.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually the strongest guy here wins and that\u2019s what we\u2019re here for. It\u2019s pretty special for me to be back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got an additional reason to be motivated: his wife Oumii Rayane has Moroccan roots, and her faith is Islamic.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s something I got to know over the past year,\u201d he wrote in an Instagram post last April. \u201cIt\u2019s something we share and we\u2019re proud to be able to share it. It\u2019s something each person has to do for themselves \u2013 or not. I can\u2019t judge that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s something to hold on to, something that helps me through life. It\u2019s something beautiful, so it\u2019s nice to be able to share it with Oumi. It\u2019s really about Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

He returned to that kind of theme on Sunday, making a link between his wife and the location of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs my second family is Arabic as well, the UAE Tour is a race I\u2019d like to do every year when it fits into my program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe season has started very well for me and I\u2019ll try to make the most beautiful race as possible for the fans here too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Del Toro: \u2018I feel the pressure a little bit\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Isaac
Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) is another of the top competitors (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Evenepoel is the biggest name, but an overall victory by him is far from a given.<\/p>\n

Every pro race has an element of a lottery about it; even the strongest riders can be caught out tactically, mechanically or through bad luck or injury.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a far more complex sport than some others.<\/p>\n

The field is also a strong one, although the withdrawal of Vingegaard from the start list following a crash and illness did remove one big obstacle.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s absence this time around also helps, but his teammate Isaac del Toro is no slouch. He\u2019s just 22, three years younger than Evenepoel, and is seen as one of the big stars of the future. He could well have won the Giro d\u2019Italia last year without some frankly disastrous team tactics, and has clocked up 21 pro victories.<\/p>\n

He was happy to hand Evenepoel the favorite tag on Sunday, but also made clear he is hungry for results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel the pressure a little bit, but it\u2019s because the UAE Tour is my first race this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI know it\u2019s also the home race for my team. I did some tests in Mexico before coming and it was quite ok. It\u2019s something big to have the confidence of the team for this race. I\u2019m privileged to be in this position.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemco is the favorite for the palmares he has. I also hope to be one of the best riders this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ditto for Lennert Van Eetvelt, the Belgian who triumphed overall two years ago.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not as accomplished as the other two riders, but he too is hoping to sparkle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great memory to have won the UAE Tour before and it\u2019s always nice to be here again,\u201d the Lotto Intermarch\u00e9 rider said. \u201cThe organizers have made the course harder this year, there can be echelons as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a hard race but I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Three obvious opportunities<\/h2>\n
\"Remco
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG), Jonathan Milan (Lidl \u2013 Trek), Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarch\u00e9) and Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) are all looking for big performances this week (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things get underway Monday with the first of four likely bunch finishes. The race to Liwa Palace is flat to undulating, although the final kilometer does include a ramp up to the line. The other three likely big gallops come on stage 4 to Fujairah, stage 5 to Dubai and stage 7 to Abu Dhabi; the first of those does include 2359 vertical kilometers, so it is not inconceivable that things could break apart.<\/p>\n

Evenepoel, Del Toro and the other GC contenders will remain vigilant on such days, while also understanding that their biggest opportunities to gain time will likely come elsewhere.<\/p>\n

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Look to Evenepoel to try to open up an early advantage in the flat stage 2 time trial. The uphill finishes to Jebel Mobrah on stage three and to Jebel Hafeet on stage 6 will also be crucial.<\/p>\n

So who are the other key names? 2020 winner Adam Yates (UAE Emirates-XRG), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), Ben O\u2019Connor (Team Jayco-AlUla), Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) are all very strong climbers, while Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is the standout name from the sprinters.<\/p>\n

Of all of those, Evenepoel is undoubtedly the most well-known. He\u2019s part of the strong Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team this year and will be backed strongly by those riders, but is glad to push a little bit of pressure towards the home team, UAE Emirates XRG.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are strong anyway, with not only Isaac del Toro but also Adam Yates, who did well in Oman,\u201d he told Sporza.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn paper, it makes sense that it will be a battle with Isaac, but someone could always take the win, as Lennert Van Eetvelt has already done here. I don\u2019t count anyone out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For that reason he will try to strike early on, with stage two offering an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the time trial, there are few turns, and that can work in my favor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish it were longer than 12 kilometers, but you have to make do with what you get. I will try to win that stage and gain time there.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he does, and if the rest of the race goes to plan, he could tip the balance a little more in the direction of WorldTour general classification wins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Shane Stokes<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated February 15, 2026 05:26PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2261772565.jpg”] Shane Stokes Updated February 15, 2026 05:26PM He\u2019s got 13 stage race victories thus far, yet just three of those are at WorldTour level. For Remco Evenepoel, the days ahead are all about trying to nudge that statistic in a better direction. \u201cAt this stage of my career, WorldTour wins matter more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1773999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1773999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1773999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1773999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1773999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}