Remco Evenepoel will take on the UCI Time Trial World Championships in Rwanda this Sunday and is considered by many the absolute top favorite. Not surprising when you know that the Belgian defending champion has an incredible 'track record' in the discipline.
That started immediately after his move to the pros in 2019. Evenepoel burst onto the scene like a comet and just days after his first big victory in the Clásica San Sebastián in Alkmaar, he claimed the European time trial title. Finishing only behind Rohan Dennis at the World Championships in Harrogate as a 19-year-old already promised great things. Evenepoel admitted that he might have started a bit too fast but was especially proud of his silver medal.
A year later, Evenepoel missed the World Championships due to that nasty crash in the Giro di Lombardia, which cost him almost a year and a half in his career. He also failed to reach his absolute best form throughout 2021 and found no ideal time trial course in his home country. The flat roads between Knokke-Heist and Bruges were mostly a power course: finishing third behind Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert was thus the logical outcome.
In 2022, the world looked very different again. The Aerokogel from Schepdaal had been firing on all cylinders throughout the season and checked off every goal he cared about. Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Belgian TT championship, the Clásica San Sebastián and especially the Vuelta a España brought him in excellent shape to Australia. Only, the time trial championships were scheduled a bit too close after the Vuelta, which meant an only partly fresh Evenepoel had to let a surprising Tobias Foss and Stefan Küng go ahead.
On his fourth attempt, he finally nailed it! Evenepoel had been so close every year, but in Scottish Glasgow, he delivered a true superday. Just days after a disappointing road race, he beat Ganna and top talent Joshua Tarling. Evenepoel thus became the youngest ever world time trial champion, barely at 23. “If after 30 minutes you’re still not at your limit and you don’t feel your legs, then you know it’s one of those days,” he described his superday.
A year later, it was déjà vu in Zürich. The Soudal Quick-Step rider had meanwhile become the benchmark for time-trialling, with an Olympic title now in his palmarès. Yet on Swiss soil, he faced a tough challenge from Filippo Ganna, who would finish just six seconds slower. Evenepoel called it a ‘crazy day’ afterwards. “My chain fell off one minute before the start, and I had no power meter. So I had to go purely by feel. It was the hardest time trial of my life.”
Next week in Rwanda, it will get exciting again on a course much hillier than he’s used to. Tadej Pogacar is expected to be the big rival in Rwanda. Will it be the first win for Pogacar or the third for Evenepoel in the discipline that suits him best? If Evenepoel wins his third consecutive title, he will then be only one rainbow jersey away from record holders Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara.
