Updated July 4, 2026 02:39AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Remco Evenepoel<\/a> has had to put up with questions about his controversial Tour de France<\/a> preparation program and his relationship with team co-leader Florian Lipowitz.<\/a><\/p>\n And now he\u2019s having to fend off questions about his extreme weight loss, too.<\/p>\n Evenepoel revealed Thursday he lost \u201calmost 4 kilograms\u201d in a rapid cut pre-Tour cut.<\/p>\n It showed.<\/p>\n Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe\u2019s multi-million leader was looking shredded Thursday as he sat in the pre-race press conference<\/a> in Barcelona.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 whether from fat or muscle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe approached the weight loss in a smart way,\u201d Evenepoel told Sporza<\/em><\/a> last week. \u201cMy weight has gone down, but the power has stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n However, an eyeball inspection suggests he\u2019s chiseled himself in the chase for a watt-per-kilo ratio to rival Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old is a totally different rider from the one who finished third at the Tour of Flanders this April.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t do anything crazy \u2013 I stayed in a calorie deficit in a smart way,\u201d Evenepoel said last week. \u201cThat ensured the right balance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like last year, when I felt completely drained by the end of June.\u201d<\/p>\n Evenepoel\u2019s revelations throw the thorny topic of race weight back into the spotlight.<\/p>\n Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot found herself at the center of a highly gendered debate<\/a> about rider health when she climbed to the top of the Tour de France Femmes last summer.<\/p>\n Her extreme and rapid weight loss<\/a> put issues such as RED-S<\/a> and bone density<\/a> into as many headlines as the race for the maillot jaune<\/em>.<\/p>\n Evenepoel hailed the help of his new trainer, Tim Heemskerk, in his chase for race weight.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I reach that weight, it stays there,\u201d Evenepoel said Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a new coach who monitored everything closely and kept everything under control in terms of power,\u201d he said. \u201cI am happy with where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe swiped Heemskerk from Visma-Lease a Bike<\/a> earlier this year after the physiologist found wild success with Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson.<\/p>\n Evenepoel said his controversial decision to skip racing for two months<\/a> ahead of the Tour allowed him to acclimate to his new coach and lose weight in a slower, safer way than years past.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it was the best decision to not race after Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. I had a lot of time to prepare in a good way,\u201d Evenepoel said Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed to change my coach. That was a big reason why I didn\u2019t take on any races after that \u2013 to make sure that I can work well together with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Heemskerk is Evenepoel\u2019s third trainer in just a year.<\/p>\n After years working with Quick-Step staffer Koen Pelgrim, the 26-year-old spent his early months at Red Bull with Dan Lorang.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the moment, everything has been going very well [with Heemskerk],\u201d Evenepoel said Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the first two months have been good, so I hope it will stay at least for many more years.\u201d<\/p>\n Evenepoel isn\u2019t the only rider who will have been on a Tour de France diet in recent months.<\/p>\n Racing weight and the watts per kilo ratio is a critical but dangerous element<\/a> of grand tour success.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar admitted in May he needed to shed a few kilos after he bulked up for the cobbled classics<\/a>. Many other GC hopefuls will have been going hungry through the early summer.<\/p>\n Altitude camps are used to carefully chisel a couple of kilos from a rider\u2019s winter jacket so they\u2019re sharp for the endless climbs of the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es and Alps.<\/p>\n Riders tread a tightrope as they try to strip weight while preserving watts.<\/p>\n Sickness, burnout, and a hit to durability are only a few grams away.<\/p>\n Evenepoel admitted last week that the pursuit of leanness and a bout of overtraining bit him last year.<\/p>\n He lost weight too fast. His energy balance and immune system went down with it.<\/p>\nEvenepoel lost weight and gained Vingegaard\u2019s trainer in racing lay-off<\/h2>\n
Remco reborn under Heemskerk\u2019s Tour de France regimen<\/h2>\n
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