The physical quirk that makes Evenepoel almost unbeatable in a time trial

Remco Evenepoel provided another demonstration of his time trial superiority at the Tour de France in July.

Over 26.1 kilometres between Évian les Bains and Thonon les Bains, the Belgian was quickest at every checkpoint before winning in 32 minutes and 19 seconds. Tadej Pogačar came closest at 28 seconds, while third placed Mattias Skjelmose was already 1:04 down.

Results like that have become familiar. Evenepoel has won the last three World Championship time trials, is the reigning Olympic champion and added the European title last October.

There is no single explanation for that record. Power, pacing, equipment and preparation all matter. But Evenepoel also has a physical and aerodynamic advantage that has been refined over several seasons.

Put simply, he is exceptionally good at making himself small on a time trial bike. It is also where one of his nicknames comes from: ‘The Aerobullet’.

Former teammate Rémi Cavagna, Evenepoel’s physiotherapist Thijs Hertsens and other specialists recently broke down some of the details behind his position in a technical analysis for L’Équipe.

One of the most important areas is the space between his hands, head and shoulders. Evenepoel can bring all three unusually close together, reducing the frontal area that meets the air at high speed.

“The goal for him is to bring the hands closer to the helmet and really have this closed position so that there is as little air resistance as possible,” Cavagna explained.

Evenepoel’s physique works in his favour. His relatively short arms allow him to stay compact on the extensions without leaving a large gap between his hands and upper body.

“He has quite short arms, which allows him to stay quite close on the extensions,” Hertsens said. “The triangle he makes with his hands, shoulders and head is really, really small.”

His hands are only part of the equation. Evenepoel also rolls his shoulders inwards to reduce his frontal area, while lowering his head between his arms. Despite how low he sits, he is still able to look far enough ahead to follow the road.

The Belgian has even had part of his visor cut away to create more room for his hands closer to his face. Together with his short arms and narrow shoulder position, it leaves remarkably little space between his hands, head and upper body.

Evenepoel won his first elite world time trial title in Glasgow in 2023, successfully defended it in Zurich the following year and completed the hat trick in Kigali last September. Olympic gold in Paris came between his first two world title defences.

In 2025, he added the Belgian and European championships. For a period, Evenepoel therefore held the world, Olympic, European and national time trial titles simultaneously, something no male rider had previously achieved.

Fabian Cancellara had held the world, Olympic and Swiss titles together in 2008, while Bradley Wiggins matched that combination six years later with the British title. Neither, however, had the opportunity to add a European championship, with the elite event only introduced in 2016.

Evenepoel did not contest the Belgian time trial championship this June, where Alec Segaert took the title. That ended his spell as holder of all four jerseys, but the three major international titles remain his.

The next one goes on the line on Sunday.

Evenepoel will defend his rainbow jersey over 39.2 kilometres in Montréal, on a course containing 220 metres of climbing. The route passes through Old Montréal before taking the riders onto the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and through Parc Jean Drapeau on the way back towards the finish at Parc Jeanne Mance.

It is a considerably flatter test than the course he mastered in Kigali last year, with long sections where maintaining speed and an efficient aerodynamic position should carry particular importance.

Filippo Ganna leads the list of riders hoping to stop him. The Italian is a two time world champion in the discipline, while Brandon McNulty, Stefan Küng, Josh Tarling and Mathias Vacek are also among the notable names on the current start list.

Küng arrives with confidence after winning the Vuelta a España time trial before leaving the race to focus on the World Championships. McNulty, meanwhile, showed his form in Canada by finishing third at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday.

Evenepoel arrives at the Worlds having already won in Canada this month. He took the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec before finishing fifth in Montréal two days later, where he said he was missing some freshness.

Sunday is a different test. Evenepoel has not lost a World Championship time trial since 2022 and will start in Montréal as the man to beat for a fourth consecutive rainbow jersey.

Ganna, Küng, McNulty and the rest will have 39.2 kilometres to stop him.