'The course suits me' - Pogacar eyes Evenepoel duel in hilly Worlds TT

Tadej Pogačar’s participation in the individual time trial at the World Championships in Rwanda was only announced this week, but it was anything but an afterthought. The hilly route of this year’s course has encouraged the Slovenian to ride the event in a bid to hold both road and time trial rainbow jerseys at the same time.

“I’ve been training with my time trial bike a few times over the past few weeks. More than usual, you could say,” Pogačar said at a press conference in Quebec, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. “It's a discipline I've always loved and really enjoy doing.” 

Remco Evenepoel is the defending champion, and the Belgian will be in Rwanda in search of a third time trial crown in a succession. The 40km course in Kigali features some 680 metres of climbing, which means Evenepoel’s usual aerodynamic advantage might not be quite as weighty.

“Can I challenge Evenepoel? That's the plan, anyway,” Pogačar said. “The course suits me, but to beat an absolute specialist like Remco and become world champion, I’ll need to be in top form on the day. For all I know, it could go completely wrong, and I could end up with a poor result. But I'm heading there with ambition, with the intention of achieving… something. Why not?”

Why not indeed? Pogačar returns to competition this week for the first time since he won his fourth Tour de France in July. His mental fatigue seemed evident in the final week of that race, and there was little surprise when UAE Team Emirates-XRG announced shortly afterwards that he would forgo the Vuelta a España.

“The team had already told me before the Tour that I could miss the Vuelta to give João [Almeida] a chance, as he had shown that he was one of the best riders,” Pogačar said, according to L’Équipe. “So in my mind I said to myself, ‘ok, I’ll do the Tour and I’m not worried about what happens after that.’ I wanted to do the Vuelta, of course, but it’s hard to do so many days of racing. I think in the end it was a good decision. You can see how the team is doing over there. They didn't need me!”

During the Vuelta, where they have won seven stages, UAE Team Emirates-XRG also announced that Juan Ayuso would leave the team at the end of this season, three years before the expiry of his contract. The Spaniard had not raced on the same team as Pogačar since the 2024 Tour de France, when he drew headlines for his apparent reluctance to work on his leader’s behalf on the Col du Galibier.

“On the one hand, it’s sad to see him go, but on the other, I can understand that he wants a change of scenery...” Pogačar said. “It’s difficult to have an opinion on this, the best thing would be to ask him.”

Pogačar will line up at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday before chasing a third win at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday. He confirmed that the Rwanda Worlds is his main objective in the final weeks of the season, though he is also seeking a remarkable fifth consecutive Il Lombardia victory.

Already winner of the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège during a high-octane Spring campaign, Pogačar is hoping to reach his third peak of the 2025 season in September.

“It’s always difficult to be in good shape at the end of the season, but I’m still motivated for my last six races,” he said. “The World Championships have been a big goal since the start of the season, so I hope I’ll be ready.”