Updated July 4, 2026 02:39AM
Remco Evenepoel has had to put up with questions about his controversial Tour de France preparation program and his relationship with team co-leader Florian Lipowitz.
And now he’s having to fend off questions about his extreme weight loss, too.
Evenepoel revealed Thursday he lost “almost 4 kilograms” in a rapid cut pre-Tour cut.
It showed.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s multi-million leader was looking shredded Thursday as he sat in the pre-race press conference in Barcelona.
For a rider who averages around 63 kilos [139 lbs] across the year, a 4-kilo [9 lbs] loss is a 6 percent swing in body mass – whether from fat or muscle.
“We approached the weight loss in a smart way,” Evenepoel told Sporza last week. “My weight has gone down, but the power has stayed.”
Evenepoel did not reveal his new weight or how long he spent on his Tour de France diet as he spoke to the massed media.
However, an eyeball inspection suggests he’s chiseled himself in the chase for a watt-per-kilo ratio to rival Tadej Pogačar.
The 26-year-old is a totally different rider from the one who finished third at the Tour of Flanders this April.
“I didn’t do anything crazy – I stayed in a calorie deficit in a smart way,” Evenepoel said last week. “That ensured the right balance.
“It’s not like last year, when I felt completely drained by the end of June.”
Evenepoel’s revelations throw the thorny topic of race weight back into the spotlight.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot found herself at the center of a highly gendered debate about rider health when she climbed to the top of the Tour de France Femmes last summer.
Her extreme and rapid weight loss put issues such as RED-S and bone density into as many headlines as the race for the maillot jaune.
Evenepoel lost weight and gained Vingegaard’s trainer in racing lay-off
Evenepoel hailed the help of his new trainer, Tim Heemskerk, in his chase for race weight.
“Once I reach that weight, it stays there,” Evenepoel said Friday.
“I have a new coach who monitored everything closely and kept everything under control in terms of power,” he said. “I am happy with where I am.”
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe swiped Heemskerk from Visma-Lease a Bike earlier this year after the physiologist found wild success with Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson.
Evenepoel said his controversial decision to skip racing for two months ahead of the Tour allowed him to acclimate to his new coach and lose weight in a slower, safer way than years past.
“For me, it was the best decision to not race after Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I had a lot of time to prepare in a good way,” Evenepoel said Thursday.
“I needed to change my coach. That was a big reason why I didn’t take on any races after that – to make sure that I can work well together with him.”
Heemskerk is Evenepoel’s third trainer in just a year.
After years working with Quick-Step staffer Koen Pelgrim, the 26-year-old spent his early months at Red Bull with Dan Lorang.
“For the moment, everything has been going very well [with Heemskerk],” Evenepoel said Thursday.
“I think the first two months have been good, so I hope it will stay at least for many more years.”
Remco reborn under Heemskerk’s Tour de France regimen
Evenepoel isn’t the only rider who will have been on a Tour de France diet in recent months.
Racing weight and the watts per kilo ratio is a critical but dangerous element of grand tour success.
Pogačar admitted in May he needed to shed a few kilos after he bulked up for the cobbled classics. Many other GC hopefuls will have been going hungry through the early summer.
Altitude camps are used to carefully chisel a couple of kilos from a rider’s winter jacket so they’re sharp for the endless climbs of the Pyrénées and Alps.
Riders tread a tightrope as they try to strip weight while preserving watts.
Sickness, burnout, and a hit to durability are only a few grams away.
Evenepoel admitted last week that the pursuit of leanness and a bout of overtraining bit him last year.
He lost weight too fast. His energy balance and immune system went down with it.
A Tour de France DNF was the ultimate result.
“Back then, I could barely complete any blocks of training during my last altitude camp,” Evenepoel told Sporza.
“This year I have been able to do everything, even in the extreme heat,” he said. “I am extremely satisfied with the evolution I have undergone.
“I am standing at the start [of the Tour] with a completely different feeling.”
Evenepoel’s razor-sharp racing form under the Heemskerk regimen will be put to the test immediately at this Tour de France. Steep climbs will make the difference on stages 1 and 2 in Barcelona.
Questions about whether a lighter Remco is a more durable Remco will be answered in week three in the Alps.