'A pretty good start...' - Evenepoel takes aim at Worlds double after time trial glory

Never in doubt. Remco Evenepoel was the consensus favourite to win his fourth time trial World Championships and he duly cruised to a crushing victory in Montreal. 

The Belgian will now turn his attention to next Sunday’s road race, where he is bidding to regain the rainbow jersey he previously won in Wollongong in 2022.

Evenepoel was without peer in the 39.2km time trial, leading through each of the time checks to claim victory by 57 seconds from Filippo Ganna (Italy) and 1:13 from Paul Seixas (France). He joins Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin atop the roll of honour with four titles, though he is the first man to achieve the feat four years in succession.

“It’s amazing. I mean, it was obviously the goal to come and win here for the fourth time in a row, it was a big motivation,” Evenepoel said.

“I just have to thank the whole team around me again for the preparation. I have to thank Specialized for all the new material that they made with me, obviously it was a pretty fast one today. I’m very happy with the feeling, with the cornering… 

“It was a very demanding course with a technical start and finish and really like a power part in the middle, but I’m super happy. It was a wonderful experience again.”

In the manner of Jacques Anquetil, Evenepoel started fast and simply never relented. He was already nine seconds up at the first time check, and that lead mushroomed to 34 seconds by the second. He continued to pile on the pressure over the second half of the course, building a winning lead of just under a minute.

“Honestly, after 6k, we had a personal time check and I knew that I was already in front of the rest,” Evenepoel said. “I thought at the first intermediate, I kind of over-paced, but I just could keep pushing and I must say that I’ve just had a wonderful feeling all day. So it’s a pretty good start to the Worlds…”

Evenepoel’s Canadian expedition began with victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec last week, but his main objective is next Sunday’s road race. In the absence of defending champion Tadej Pogačar, he lines up as the number one favourite, though he will face stiff competition from a deep field that includes Seixas, Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands).

“I think there’s quite some time to rest out now and enjoy this special one,” Evenepoel saod. “And then from Tuesday on, it’s full focus on Sunday.”