Nobody does a comeback like Remco Evenepoel, cycling's Special One

Nobody does a comeback quite like Remco Evenepoel, and nobody puts on a show quite like him either. 

The most compelling figure in cycling won his third successive World Championships time trial in the most dramatic imaginable fashion in Kigali on Sunday, by catching and passing the best rider in the world. 

Tadej Pogačar has suffered big defeats in his career before – “I’m gone, I’m dead,” springs to mind – but he had never been posterized quite like this. It was the cycling equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo nutmegging Lionel Messi. It had to be seen to be believed.

Prior to the Worlds, the combination of the hilly parcours and Pogačar’s participation led many to believe Evenepoel’s title in his favourite discipline was at risk. The Belgian has endured a relatively wretched season, after all, chasing form all year after a winter crash and then suffering the indignity of abandoning the Tour de France on the Tourmalet.

That latest Grand Tour disappointment led to the same old doubts about Evenepoel’s aptitude over three weeks being dusted down for another airing. By the time he announced his move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in August, there were even murmurings about how he might ultimately end up playing second fiddle to Florian Lipowitz.

Evenepoel was always likely to take that personally, and he was always likely to hit back with a show-stopping performance in Rwanda. His whole career has been composed of setbacks and comebacks, a symphony of boom and bust. He somehow combines the vulnerability of a Thibaut Pinot with the sheer force of will of a Bernard Hinault. 

It’s a heady mix and we’ve seen this sequence before. His disastrous Grand Tour debut on the 2021 Giro d’Italia was immediately followed by a series of crushing displays that summer. His much-criticised display at the 2021 Worlds in Leuven was followed by an emphatic rainbow jersey in Wollongong a year later.

His collapse on the Aubisque on the 2023 Vuelta a España was followed by a dizzying solo win the next day. His injury-delayed start to 2025 was marked by a defiant win at Brabantse Pijl. 

In July, watching Evenepoel’s Pinot-esque, heart-on-the-sleeve devastation on the Tourmalet, you could already guess that he would respond with a show of defiance in Rwanda like Hinault’s in Sallanches in 1980.

Evenepoel being Evenepoel, he essentially teased the possibility on Friday evening. Press conferences are often an exercise in guarded banality, but Evenepoel has the disarming tendency of telling the truth when a microphone is put in front of him. It wasn’t quite Joe Namath guaranteeing victory, but Evenepoel didn’t downplay his prospects. No, he talked them up. “I’m ready just in time,” he said, shrugging off the idea that Pogačar’s presence changed his mission.

He wasn’t lying. Evenepoel was already 45 seconds up on Pogačar after the first time check and he kept running up the score from there. Only Jay Vine (Australia) could put up any resistance on the final portion of the course, by which point Evenepoel’s only concerns were finding a way around Pogačar and making sure he didn’t suffer any wobbles on the cobbled climb to the line.

Evenepoel has now won 22 time trials as a professional, but this was surely the most impressive yet, superseding even the supersonic display in Alicante on the 2022 Vuelta and his crushing showing on the opening day of the following year’s Giro. And this one will be immortalised by the image of Evenepoel passing Pogačar. 

This wasn’t just a win, it was a statement.

But what does that statement mean for next Sunday’s Worlds road race? Pogačar has been the overwhelming favourite all year, and that status only increased as the list of riders tapping out of the trip to Rwanda grew longer. The absence of Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert et al seemed to suggest that the grandees of the peloton didn’t think it was worth the plane fare to be a bit-part player in another Pogačar exhibition.

Evenepoel never subscribed to that view and was always quietly adamant that he would target the time trial and the road race at the Worlds. But twelve months ago, buoyed by his twin Olympic titles, he had similar ambitions for the Zurich Worlds. He duly won the time trial title, but he was among the also-rans as Pogačar sealed his Triple Crown in the most emphatic fashion.

Still, the nature of Evenepoel’s time trial victory here will surely give him heart for next Sunday. Pogačar didn’t ride the time trial simply to fulfil a fixture – he added it to his programme because he believed he could win. Instead, he placed a distant fourth, beaten not just by Evenepoel, but by Vine and Ilan Van Wilder (Belgium). Pogačar remains the logical favourite for the road race, of course, but Evenepoel has shortened his own odds with his time trial display

The counterargument, mind, is that Pogačar was reportedly suffering from illness ahead of the WorldTour races in Canada, and the Slovenian conceded on Sunday that racing in Québec and Montréal hadn’t exactly been conducive to preparing for the specifics of a time trial contest. By contrast, one can only imagine that Evenepoel spent a decent chunk of time since the Tour of Britain aboard his time trial bike.

Still, a win is a win, and a world title is a world title. In the same week that José Mourinho made his return to Benfica, maybe it was only fitting that cycling’s own Special One – always compelling, often divisive – reminded everybody of his capabilities. 

The road race at the Rwanda Worlds had long looked destined to be a procession, but Evenepoel’s latest comeback has brought a bit of suspense and anticipation to the build-up at least. 

Evenepoel, the alien talent with human flaws, is never anything less than essential viewing.