Junior career In 2017, Evenepoel began cycling full-time. Initially, he was coached by , former three-time Belgian marathon champion and friend of his father. In his first races, Evenepoel struggled with bike handling and riding in groups, with youth teammate
Danny van der Tuuk recalling Evenepoel "couldn’t finish races" because of how often he crashed. His first win came in his tenth race as a junior. He won both the
time trial and
road race at the
2018 European Junior Road Cycling Championships. The gap between him and the second place rider in the road race was 9 minutes and 44 seconds over a distance of 118.8 km. Later in the year, Evenepoel also won both the road race and the time trial at the
UCI Junior Road World Championships.
Deceuninck–Quick-Step 2019 - professional debut Electing to skip the under-23 ranks, Evenepoel announced in July 2018 that he would join for the 2019 season. For his first season, Evenepoel was scheduled to compete in shorter stage races, and skipped the cobbled, one-day Classic races. In his debut race, the
Vuelta a San Juan, Evenepoel won the young rider classification and 9th overall whilst also winning his first professional podium in the stage 3 time trial behind teammate
Julian Alaphilippe and
Valerio Conti. Evenepoel's first professional victory came at the
Tour of Belgium, where he won the general classification as well as a stage and the points classification. On 3 August 2019 Evenepoel scored his first World Tour victory when he won the
Clásica de San Sebastián. He escaped from the field, accompanied by
Toms Skujiņš about from the finish, dropping his companion on the last hill and soloing to victory. He became the third-youngest rider ever to win a
cycling classic in the history of the sport. On 8 August 2019, Evenepoel won the time trial at the
2019 European Road Championships. At the
World Championships in September, Evenepoel would have been eligible to still ride in the under-23 category, but decided against it and started in the elite men's events. He went on to win the silver medal in the time trial. He spent much of the year sharing a room with
Philippe Gilbert who acted in a mentoring role.
2020 - career threatening crash Evenepoel started the 2020 season at the
Vuelta a San Juan, where he won the individual time trial on stage 3 and the general classification. He then competed at the
Volta ao Algarve. Here, he won stage 2 as well as the final stage, a time trial, to clinch overall victory ahead of
Maximilian Schachmann. After the extended break in the cycling calendar due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, he won the
Vuelta a Burgos and the
Tour de Pologne. Evenepoel suffered a serious accident at
Il Lombardia on 16 August 2020. While descending the
Muro di Sormano and after a sharp curve, he collided with a low wall on the side of a bridge and was thrown over it with the impact, falling in a dirt area near some trees, roughly below the road. No other cyclists were involved in the accident and he was swiftly removed from the scene by the emergency services, being conscious and responsive all the time. Hours later, his team reported that he had suffered a fractured pelvis and a right lung contusion, also stating that he would not be returning to competition in the near future.
2021 - first Grand Tour Evenepoel returned to competition in the
2021 Giro d'Italia, finishing 7th in the
prologue time trial, after which he said: "I was standing on the start ramp with some tears in my eyes. It was a hard way to come back and start the Giro like this. But immediately a top-10 spot, I didn't expect it – I'm really happy." After spending the first 15 stages in the top-10 of the general classification, he crashed during stage 17 and was unable to continue the race. He competed in the rescheduled
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in both the road race and time trial earning a top 10 place in the latter. During the 2021 World Championships in
Flanders he claimed his second elite level world championship medal, taking the bronze in the time trial. Evenepoel was the centre of a furore in the World road race. Ahead of the race, it was felt that
Wout van Aert was the protected leader for a Belgian team that was very hopeful of a home win, and
Eddy Merckx stated to
Het Nieuwsblad that "If there is only one leader, you really shouldn't take Evenepoel [...] He rides mainly for himself; we saw that at the Olympics". Evenepoel responded "He always has to say something and that's a shame [...] Maybe it stings that I didn't ride for
his son's team. I have a lot of respect for Eddy and apparently that is not mutual." On the race ahead "I'm here to work for Belgium, for Wout, because I know that it's the chance of his life to be world champion. He's in the form of his life, and it would be stupid of me to ride for myself. On this parcours, no one is stronger than Wout. I said already a lot of times that I will do everything [for] Wout." , which he won. In the road race Evenepoel appeared to answer Merckx' criticism that he is a selfish cyclist by joining an early attack with 180 km still to race, followed by a second mid-race attack, and then created the decisive selection in the finals laps. Van Aert was unable to win the race, which was won by
Julian Alaphilippe. After the race, people from the world of cycling such as Evenepoel's trade team boss
Patrick Lefevere praised Evenepoel's strength and wondered if the Belgian team had made the wrong choice of leader. Lefevere asked: "[W]hy did the Belgians want to break open the race so early? And above all, why did they throw Remco into the fray so early? For me, Remco was the best man in the race after Julian. But they just sacrificed him and rolled out the red carpet for Julian." Evenepoel responded to the criticism of Belgium's tactics by revealing that he felt he could have won the race but that "[o]n Friday evening before the World Championships there was a meeting with everyone. It was very unclear to me what exactly was expected of me. So after sleeping on it, the next day I went to coaches
Sven Vanthourenhout and
Serge Pauwels and asked: 'What do you expect from me in concrete terms?' "I also said straight out that I thought I might be able to win the race in a certain scenario. 'Do I get a chance or not?' I asked. 'No,' was the answer." and "He was the one who agreed with the tactics, who agreed with the selection. He has been preaching for weeks on end how he was looking forward to it so I think it's really weird to turn 180 degrees now". Days after the race Belgian team-mate
Jasper Stuyven said that Evenepoel had failed to show up for the team debrief: "Everyone was there, except Remco [...] He was aware, but didn't think it was necessary. I think that is a shame, especially because he thought it necessary to say things on TV. That stuck with some of us. [...] I think that Remco should sometimes be slowed down by his entourage. He still has to learn when he can and cannot say things. Also, a super-strong rider – which he certainly is – should realise that some things should remain internal."
2022 - Grand Tour, Monument, and World Championship victory On 24 April, at the age of 22, Evenepoel won his first
cycling monument in
Liège–Bastogne–Liège after a 29.6 km solo effort with a 48-second lead on the runner-up. It was his first participation in this
cycling classic. He completed the 257.1 km with an average speed of 41.397 km/h, which was the fastest edition in the history of La Doyenne. He won the
2022 Clásica de San Sebastián by launching a successful 44 kilometre solo attack, finishing nearly two minutes ahead of second-placed
Pavel Sivakov. In early September, Evenepoel won the
2022 Vuelta a España, his first
Grand Tour triumph. Evenepoel took the
red jersey after
stage 6 of the race, which finished with a 800m climb to a mountain-top finish in
San Miguel de Aguayo. While the stage was won by
Jay Vine, Evenepoel managed to finish second, putting significant time into his
general classification rivals, including
Primož Roglič, the pre-race favorite. Evenepoel extended his general classification lead to 2 minutes and 41 seconds after a dominant performance on the
stage 10 individual time trial, finishing the 30.9 km course in 33 minutes and 18 seconds, 48 seconds ahead of second-place Roglič. The following challenging mountain stages saw Roglič and
Enric Mas claw back some time, reducing Evenepoel's general classification lead to as little as 1 minute and 26 seconds. However, following Roglič's withdrawal from the race after a crash at the end of stage 16, Evenepoel won
stage 18, another mountain-top finish, securing a 2-minute and 7-second advantage over Mas, which would prove unassailable over the final 2 stages. Arriving in Madrid, Evenepoel's margin of victory was 2 minutes and 2 seconds over second place Mas and 4 minutes and 57 seconds over third place
Juan Ayuso. In September, Evenepoel competed in both the
Individual Time Trial and
Road Race at the
2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. He finished 3rd in the time trial, 9 seconds behind winner
Tobias Foss. In May, Evenepoel competed in the
Giro d'Italia as one of the main favourites for victory. In the opening day time trial to
Ortona, he won the stage to take the
race leader's pink jersey, in the process gaining significant time on his general classification rivals. After losing the race lead to
Andreas Leknessund during the first week of the race, he reclaimed it following his victory in the stage 9 individual time trial. However, following a positive test for COVID-19 that same evening, Evenepoel was forced to withdraw from the race, handing the race lead to
Geraint Thomas. Following his recovery, Evenepoel competed in the
Tour de Suisse. Here, he won stage 7 of the race, attacking on the last part of the stage neutralized for times on the general classification, following
Gino Mäder's death due to a crash on a descent two days prior. Evenepoel dedicated his victory to Mäder. He eventually finished the Tour de Suisse in third position overall. After the Tour de Suisse, Evenepoel contested the national championships. In the
time trial, he placed only fourth following a crash on a wet course. On 25 June, he won the
road race championship for the first time in his career, outsprinting
Alec Segaert () at the finish line. Later that summer, he took his third victory at the
Clásica de San Sebastián, coming out ahead in a two-man sprint against
Pello Bilbao. On 11 August he won
the time trial at the
2023 UCI Road World Championships in Scotland, becoming the second cyclist (after
Abraham Olano) to win both the road race and the time trial at the World Championships.
2024 - double Olympic champion at the
2024 Paris Olympics Evenepoel began his 2024 season with a win at the
Figueira Champions Classic on February 11, completing a 53 km solo effort to victory. He then secured the overall classification at the
Tour of the Algarve from February 14 to 18, with a notable performance in the stage 4 time trial, winning by 16 seconds. In
Paris-Nice, held from March 3 to 10, Evenepoel won the points and mountains classifications, while finishing second overall. He won the final stage 8, but despite repeated attacks, wasn't able to distance himself from
Matteo Jorgenson, the general classification winner. During the
Tour of the Basque Country, from April 1 to 6, Evenepoel abandoned the race due to injury following a serious crash on stage 4. The incident occurred during a high-speed descent and led to the neutralization of the race, affecting several other favorites, including
Jonas Vingegaard and
Primož Roglič. Despite the severity of the crash, Evenepoel managed to walk to medical assistance on his own. He sustained a broken collarbone and scapula, requiring surgery, which was successfully completed on April 6. Evenepoel made his race debut at the
2024 Tour de France, held from June 29 - July 21. He was initially viewed as one of the three favorites to win the overall classification, alongside
Jonas Vingegaard and
Tadej Pogacar. Evenepoel won one stage, the individual time trial on stage 7, where he bested Pogacar and Vingegaard by 12 and 37 seconds respectively. He finished the Tour third overall, 3 minutes behind Vingegaard, 9 minutes behind Pogacar, and secured the best young rider's white jersey. On July 27, just 6 days after the conclusion of the Tour de France, Evenepoel won gold in the
Olympic Time Trial at the
2024 Paris Olympics, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Filippo Ganna. A week later on August 3 he also won Olympic gold in the
road race despite suffering a tire puncture near the end of the race, becoming the first man to win gold medals in both road cycling events at the same Olympics. The 273 kilometer course through the streets of Paris was the longest Olympic road race to date. On September 22, almost 2 months after the conclusion of the Olympics, Evenepoel won
the time trial at the
World Championships in
Zürich, finishing 6 seconds ahead of Ganna. His chain dropped before the start and he rode without a power meter. Evenepoel finished fifth in the
road race. Evenepoel finished his 2024 season with a second-place finish at
Il Lombardia. On 3 December, Evenpoel collided with an open door of a postal vehicle, during a training ride in Belgium. He suffered fractures to his ribs, shoulder blade and hand, as well as a dislocated collarbone and contusions to both lungs as a result of this. He underwent a successful operation the following day.
2025 - World and European time trial champion , where he won gold in the
time trial Evenepoel missed the early season while recovering from his injuries. He called the recovery process "the hardest battle of my life so far," particularly as it was the second shoulder injury he has suffered in the last nine months. Evenepoel returned in time to ride the
Ardennes classics in April, hoping to recover peak performance in time for the
Tour de France In his first race back from injury, Evenepoel won the
Brabantse Pijl in a two-up sprint against
Wout van Aert. Evenepoel finished third in the
Amstel Gold Race, despite a crash midway through, and came ninth in
La Flèche Wallonne. Despite being listed by analysts as a pre-race favorite, Evenepoel finished a disappointing 59th at
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, saying after the race "I can't expect miracles" and that it would take time to return to his best form. At the
Tour de Romandie, Evenepoel struggled in the high mountains but won the final stage 5 time trial by 11 seconds over
João Almeida, finishing in fifth place overall. Evenepoel finished fourth overall at the
Critérium du Dauphiné, again winning the lone time trial on stage 4. Next, he rode the Belgian championships, winning his second time trial by over a minute, before finishing runner-up to
Tim Wellens in the road race. In July, Evenepoel started at the
Tour de France. He won the stage 5 time trial, moving into second overall behind
Tadej Pogačar, but struggled as the race moved into the mountains. After a 12th-place finish on the stage 13 uphill time trial, which Evenepoel called "a really bad performance," he abandoned the next day. At the time, he was third overall and leading the
young rider classification. After leaving the race, Evenepoel revealed he rode the Tour with a broken rib and
sinusitis, a result of his crash at the Belgian championships. He called his abandonment "the hardest decision I’ve made in a long time" In August, following months of speculation, Evenepoel announced he was signing a contract with starting from the 2026 season. Evenepoel's existing team agreed to release him from contract a year early, reportedly in exchange for $5 million compensation. At the
UCI Road World Championships in
Kigali, Evenepoel won the
elite time trial in a "dominant" performance, passing his rival Pogačarwho started two and a half minutes beforeon the final climb over a distance of 40.6 km (25.23 mi). It was Evenepoel's third consecutive world title, joining
Michael Rogers and
Tony Martin as the only male cyclists to do so.
Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe 2026 - Evenepoel started the 2026 season, his first with
Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe with a hat-trick of victories at
Challenge Mallorca, winning the
Trofeo Ses Salines team time trial with his team, before taking two more back-to-back individual victories at
Trofeo Serra Tramuntana and
Trofeo Andratx-Pollença. Team Sports director Patxi Vila praised Evenepoel for having integrated into the team seamlessly. ==Personal life==