{"id":656800,"date":"2025-12-27T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/656800\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T00:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:00:23","slug":"remco-texted-me-welcome-to-the-team-amigo-evenepoel-reunites-with-old-friend-at-red-bull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/656800\/","title":{"rendered":"“Remco texted me: \u2018Welcome to the team, amigo!\u2019”: Evenepoel reunites with old friend at Red Bull"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Marit was one of the (many) casualties of the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9, despite having a contract running until the end of 2026. He thought his season had been good enough to stay, but that was not the case in the end. \u201cI felt I had ridden a consistent season, with a second place in a sprint at the Tour Down Under, third in a Vuelta sprint and fourth in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut those credentials weren\u2019t enough to stay on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message was delivered bluntly and with little room for manoeuvre to find a new team. \u201cThe big boss at Wanty told me: \u2018We have to be honest, we already have many riders with the same profile as you. It\u2019s difficult to give all those similar types opportunities.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Marit received the news in mid-October, while still racing the Tour of Guangxi<\/a>, where he finished inside the top 10 in two stages. \u201cThe first thing that went through my head was: \u2018So late in the season, almost all team spots are filled. Where am I supposed to go?\u2019\u201dA turning point came unexpectedly at the end of October. \u201cThe news came out that abnormal blood values had been found with Oier Lazkano<\/a>. That suddenly freed up a spot at Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe<\/a>. Thanks to Allan Peiper [who joined Red Bull as a strategic advisor a month ago] I received a call from the team\u2019s new sporting director, Zakkari Dempster, who told me they were still looking for a classics-type rider.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Marit did not hesitate to accept the offer. \u201cIf a team like Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe contacts you, it\u2019s a no-brainer to sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RemcoEvenepoel\"\/<\/p>\n

Remco Evenepoel will be Marit’s new teammate<\/p>\n

Reuniting with an old friendThe transfer also reunited Marit with an old racing friend: Remco Evenepoel<\/a>. \u201cWhen Remco rode his first race as a junior, he sent me a message asking: \u2018Do you maybe have some tips and tricks for me?\u2019\u201d Marit recalled. He was immediately struck by Evenepoel\u2019s talent. \u201cA few days later Remco finished tenth in the Brabant time trial championship. What was remarkable was that he was the only one riding a regular road bike. I already knew then: \u2018This is not an ordinary kid.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The bond grew during their junior years. “We even went to reconnoitre Nokere Koerse together, because Remco had set his sights on that race, which I had already won twice. That\u2019s how the friendship developed. But over the years our contact has naturally faded somewhat, because Remco was abroad more and more often for the races.”<\/p>\n

Weeks ago, however, Marit received a message that brought the story full circle. \u201cMy transfer hadn\u2019t been announced yet, but I had already received my bike. When I went to the Specialized Store in Geraardsbergen, Patrick Evenepoel happened to be there.\u201d Later that evening, the message arrived. \u201cRemco texted me: \u2018Welcome to the team, amigo!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marit was one of the (many) casualties of the merger between Lotto and Intermarch\u00e9, despite having a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[200864,4230,200866,42460,16151,79,200865,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-656800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-arne-marit","9":"tag-cycling","10":"tag-oier-lazkano","11":"tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","12":"tag-remco-evenepoel","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tour-of-guangxi","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115788593557407607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}