Evenepoel makes history on another continent with GP Québec victory

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed his 78th professional victory on the road when he outsprinted Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) to victory at the GP Québec on Friday.

Not only did the Olympic Champion cement himself as the favourite to win the rainbow jersey on September 27 in Montréal, but he also achieved a rare feat.

Evenepoel became the first professional rider to win a race on six different continents. 

His first professional win was on home soil at the Baloise Belgium Tour back in 2019, soloing to victory on stage 2 en route to winning the GC. It marked the first of 76 wins in Europe.

In his second season in 2020, Evenepoel won the time trial on stage 3 at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina before sealing the GC, his only two victories in South America.

Next came his first and only victory in Oceania, and it was a big one, soloing to victory in the road race to become world champion in Wollongong, Australia, in 2022.

Evenepoel’s very next win would come on a different continent, Asia, at the start of the 2023 season, winning the UAE Tour. 

Over two years later, Evenepoel would taste victory in Africa for the first time, winning the time trial for the third consecutive year at the Worlds in Kigali, Rwanda, on a day where he managed to catch and pass Tadej Pogačar. 

Finally, Evenepoel became the first pro rider to taste victory on six different continents by winning the GP Québec on Friday and illustrating his form ahead of the rainbow showdown.

The Belgian is also hunting more uncharted territory as he aims to become the first male rider to win both the road race and time trial world titles in the same season. Only he and Abraham Olano have won both the elite men’s road race and time trial titles in their careers, full stop, let alone in the same year. 

"How often has a rider won both the time trial and the road race at the same World Championship? Never," Evenepoel told Sporza ahead of the GP Québec.

"That was my goal last year, and it is again this year. It is something I want to do in my career. It has already been done at the Olympic Games, but at a World Championship it is different, because then you get those two jerseys."