Evenepoel equips his new S-Works SL9 with the gravel XPLR 1x13 groupset

After the Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel has focused much of his preparation on what he himself dubbed “Project Canada”. A block that has its first stops at the GP of Quebec and the GP of Montreal and should lead him afterwards to the World Road Championship in Montreal.

Now, just hours before the Belgian takes the start in the GP of Quebec 2026, where he is among the main favorites alongside riders like Isaac del Toro or Tom Pidcock, he has drawn attention for the drivetrain he has decided to mount on his new S-Works SL9.

Evenepoel returns to single chainring, but now with SRAM RED XPLR 1x13

It is no novelty to see Remco Evenepoel competing or training with a single chainring drivetrain. The Belgian did so at the beginning of 2026 using this solution in his first races with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in Spain.

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But then we saw him configure the SRAM RED AXS road combining a 54 (ó 56) chainring with a 10-36 cassette. Evenepoel resorted to the single chainring practically throughout that first block of competition and afterwards we do not recall seeing him use it again, until now.

But the configuration we have seen now in Canada is different. Evenepoel has installed for the first time, at least publicly, a SRAM RED XPLR AXS 1x13 gravel drivetrain on his new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9, the bike he debuted during the last Tour de France and of which we saw in detail its exclusive Gold Edition version here. Until now we had not seen the Belgian use a single chainring configuration on this new generation of the Tarmac although his team already explained that this possibility existed before the Tour.

The difference compared to his setup at the beginning of the season is mainly at the back. Instead of resorting to the RED AXS derailleur and cassette, Evenepoel is now using the SRAM RED XPLR AXS 1x13 for gravel.

The system combines a direct mount UDH rear derailleur with 13 speeds and a 10-46 cassette, providing a range of 460%. Up front, the images show a large chainring that, at first glance, appears to be at least 54 teeth.

What advantages does a single chainring have on a road bike?

The use of a single chainring on the road has ceased to be a rarity, especially since current cassettes allow for ranges that a few years ago were difficult to achieve without resorting to two chainrings.

Eliminating the second chainring and the front derailleur simplifies the drivetrain and reduces the number of mechanical elements susceptible to causing problems. It can also offer a slight aerodynamic improvement by leaving that area of the bike cleaner.

And there is another advantage that is much less quantifiable, but that professionals themselves have highlighted: it simplifies decisions about gearing. The cyclist no longer has to manage chainring and cassette simultaneously and only needs to think about shifting up or down cogs.

In the case of the RED XPLR, the 10-46 cassette significantly expands the available range compared to the 10-36 that Evenepoel used with his previous 1x configuration. In exchange, the jumps between certain cogs are greater than those of a conventional road cassette, which can make it difficult to find a cadence as precise as with closer ratios.

Precisely for this reason, the single chainring does not have to be the ideal solution for every course, but it can be particularly interesting in races where a large chainring allows for very high speeds and the wide rear cassette provides enough gearing to overcome climbs.

One of the first WorldTour cyclists to use it was Lidl-Trek rider Mads Pedersen who even won the 2025 Ghent-Wevelgem with this configuration. The Dane won that edition after a long solo break on a Trek Madone equipped precisely with SRAM RED XPLR AXS 1x13.

His setup was very similar to what we have now seen on Evenepoel's bike with a 56-tooth chainring and 10-46 cassette with 13 speeds. That victory was particularly significant because it marked the first win in a road classic for a drivetrain originally designed for gravel.

Since then, the use of this type of setup has been spreading, especially in classics and courses where the simplicity of the single chainring and the enormous range of the 10-46 can compensate for the larger jumps between cogs. So much so that some manufacturers are already beginning to mount and offer this configuration on production models.

For now, we can only confirm that Evenepoel has used this configuration during his training leading up to the GP of Quebec. We will have to wait for the race start to see if Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe maintains the setup and the Belgian decides to compete with it or if it is simply a material test ahead of the upcoming Canadian events.