Remco Evenepoel proved he was the rider to look out for after sealing his new team’s first winning jersey of the 2026 season at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana stage race on Sunday.
The Belgian rider made waves last year when he announced he was joining Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe in what was considered one of the most high-profile transfers in recent cycling history.
And in a warning to rivals on Sunday, Evenepoel showed just how serious he is to become a dominant contender, not just for stage wins, but also a grand tour crown.
Calm, collected, and confident
Evenepoel stormed into the five-day tour confident, having already won two individual races and one team time-trial at the Challenge Mallorca event last week.
He continued that commanding streak after he snatched two of the five stages at the Volta Valenciana, including the queen stage on Saturday, where he broke away from the leading group and trudged atop the overall standings.
By the end of stage four, he had 24 seconds ahead of his closest rival, João Almeida, from UAE Team Emirates – XRG.
The fifth and final stage saw UAE attempting a crosswind acceleration that spread the peloton during the final kilometres, but Red Bull had been well-positioned at the front to control the race, according to Cycling Up to Date.
Evenepoel managed to stay calm throughout, even amid a chaotic finale, defending his lead and ultimately securing the overall victory.
Almeida finished second while Evenepoel’s teammate Giulio Pellizzari completed the GC podium.
The stage five victory went to Movistar Team’s Raul Garcia Pierna.
Starting the year on a high
“It was a super good week that started well with Arne [Marit] in second place,” Evenepoel said after the race.
“And day by day we get better, finishing a lot of stages in the front. Now we are first and third in the final GC. It was an amazing week in Valencia.”
BORA had another reason to celebrate with Pellizzari also bagging the young rider classification jersey.
Sporting director Klaas Lodewyck praised the team for their dominant display in a press release.
“We are really happy with the way the boys defended the jersey today.
“First and third – yellow and white. After yesterday, it was an objective to keep both. Especially after the time trial that didn’t count for GC, there was a little setback. But we won it, and the guys kept the morale very high.”
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Next stop: UAE Tour
The Belgian rider, who had been part of Soudal Quick-Step for years before joining Red Bull, is considered among the best time triallists of his generation, particularly following his road race and time trial golds at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
He further cemented his position in the discipline after winning both time trial medals at the 2025 World and European championships.
His latest victory comes as he looks to disrupt the rankings in the peloton this year under his new team, including Tadej Pogačar’s dominance in the Tour de France.
During Red Bull’s media day, the team unveiled a co-leadership plan between him and Florian Lipowitz in France, a tactic that Evenepoel said would be the best approach to the race.
Next stop for Evenepoel is the highly anticipated UAE Tour starting February 16, where he is expected to challenge some big names including UAE’s Isaac Del Toro and Adam Yates and Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan.
A collision course between Evenepoel and Team Visma – Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard had previously been set before the Danish rider announced last week he would not start his season at the UAE Tour due to a recent crash and subsequent illness.
“I was really looking forward to returning to the UAE Tour and am therefore disappointed that we have had to make this decision,” Vingegaard said in a media release.
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Elan Castanares 
Maybelene Marcelino 
Newsjustnews writers