ANALYSIS | Remco Evenepoel has made cycling history - Where does he fit with past World Championships

The cobbled climb of the Côte de Kimihurura, with the Kigali Convention Centre looming above, provided the perfect theatre for arguably Remco Evenepoel’s most impressive win of his career. On Sunday, the Belgian defended his rainbow jersey in the elite men’s time trial at the World Championships in Rwanda, winning the event for the third year in a row. The result was emphatic in numbers and rich in symbolism too: Evenepoel caught Tadej Pogacar on the road, reversing the humiliation of his Tour de France collapse just two months ago, and crossed the line more than a minute clear of his rivals. At just 25 years old, with three consecutive time trial world titles and seven World Championship medals in total, Evenepoel has entered a new realm, one that places him alongside, and perhaps on course to surpass, the greatest time triallists in history.

The Kigali course was designed to test every facet of a rider’s ability. At 40.6 kilometres with 680 metres of climbing, it was no drag race. From the Côte de Nyanza’s 2.5 kilometres at six percent, to the long drag back up the same hill at 3.5 percent, to the brutal Côte de Péage and the cobbled sting of Kimihurura, it was terrain that appeared better suited to Pogacar than to Evenepoel.

Yet it was the Belgian who thrived.

Starting last as defending champion, Evenepoel quickly set a rhythm. By the first check he was already an incredible 40 seconds ahead of his nearest rivals, but the most dramatic moment came in the closing kilometres. Pogacar had set out two minutes and thirty seconds before him, yet with the finish line in sight, Evenepoel reeled him in. On the cobblestones of Kimihurura, in front of packed crowds, he powered past his Slovenian rival.

That’s right. Arguably the greatest rider we have ever seen, passed on the course.

“I could see I was closing in on Tadej Pogacar, I just rode as fast as I could,” Evenepoel said afterwards. His winning time of 49:46 was the only effort under 50 minutes. Jay Vine took silver, 1:14 down, while Ilan van Wilder completed the podium. Pogacar, stunned by being overtaken, was left in fourth, one second off bronze. “It’s a hard one to swallow,” he admitted, on what was also his 27th birthday.

The sight of Evenepoel catching Pogacar carried meaning that went far beyond a simple time gap. Just two months earlier, on Stage 13 of the Tour de France, Evenepoel had suffered the most humiliating moment of his career. That day’s mountain time trial to Peyragudes, only 10.9 kilometres, but with 645 metres of climbing and a brutal 13 percent final ramp, became one of the Belgian’s darkest days. He imploded spectacularly, losing two minutes and thirty-nine seconds to Pogacar, and was even overtaken on the road by Jonas Vingegaard. Exhausted and destroyed by his time in the Pyrenees, the Belgian abandoned the Tour the next day on the slopes of the Tourmalet.

In Kigali, the echoes were impossible to miss. The course contained similar steep ramps and repeated climbs, and many expected Pogacar to exploit them again, and many thought we would finally see Evenepoel beaten in the time trial.

Instead, Evenepoel reversed the narrative. He did not crack on the hills; he crushed them. Where Peyragudes had exposed him, Kimihurura crowned him. The act of overtaking Pogacar, this time with himself as the dominant force, was redemption, a demonstration that he had absorbed the lessons of July and emerged stronger.

Evenepoel’s victory was not just emotional; it was statistical confirmation of his standing among cycling’s all-time greats. According to Cycling Statistics on X, he now has seven World Championship medals across the road race and time trial, the same number as the legendary Alejandro Valverde. The difference is in their balance: Valverde’s seven all came in road races, while Evenepoel’s include six in the time trial and one in the road race.

His medal tally is unprecedented for a rider who excels in both disciplines. Of the select group with podiums in both events, Evenepoel leads with seven, ahead of Miguel Indurain’s four and Wout van Aert’s three. His collection consists of three TT golds, one silver, two bronzes, and the 2022 road race gold. No other rider in history has such a spread.

By winning in Kigali, Evenepoel also became the first rider to claim rainbow jerseys in four consecutive seasons: road race gold in 2022, time trial victories in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Within the time trial alone, his trajectory is equally historic. With three golds and six total medals, he is now just one victory and one podium away from equalling the all-time record of Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin, who each have four wins and seven medals. That he has reached this stage at only 25 suggests the record is his for the taking.

For Pogacar, Kigali was an opportunity missed. He had arrived as the reigning road race world champion and four-time Tour de France winner, with two prior victories over Evenepoel in time trials, in Nice in 2024 and Peyragudes in 2025. Both of those wins came on climbing courses, and Kigali seemed cut from the same cloth. Instead, he finished fourth, a second from the podium, and endured the indignity of being overtaken on the road.

So where does Evenepoel stand now? His numbers demand comparison with the legends. Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin are the benchmark, with four titles each, collected over long careers. Miguel Indurain and Bradley Wiggins defined earlier eras, while Chris Boardman and Jan Ullrich made their own marks.

Evenepoel is not only closing on Cancellara and Martin’s records, he is doing so far earlier in his career. At just 25, he has three golds, six TT medals, seven Worlds medals overall, and a road race title to his name. No rider has combined such range so quickly. Unlike Valverde, whose Worlds legacy was built entirely in the road race, Evenepoel straddles both. Unlike Martin, whose power dominated flat TTs, Evenepoel has now shown he can master climbing-heavy ones too. And unlike Cancellara, who never won a road race rainbow, Evenepoel has already done so.

It is this versatility, as much as his medal count, that distinguishes him. He is not just a time trial great in waiting; he is a World Championships great already.

Next weekend’s road race in Kigali offers another chance to extend the tally. Evenepoel will not be favourite, Pogacar’s climbing supremacy over 5,475 metres of vertical gain makes him the man to beat, but the Belgian is already expected to contend for the podium. If he does, he will move clear of Valverde’s shared record, becoming the most decorated rider in Worlds history. And, judging by Sunday’s performance, Evenepoel will certainly be Pogacar’s closest challenger next weekend. If Pogacar isn’t at his very best next weekend, Evenepoel could dethrone him and take back the title he won in 2022.

Beyond that, the horizon is long. With Cancellara and Martin’s time trial records within touching distance, Evenepoel is on track to redefine the discipline. His youth ensures that, barring injury, he could dominate for many more years to come. Each victory from here strengthens not only his numbers but his narrative: a rider who fell in Peyragudes, but rose in Kigali, who caught Pogacar on the cobbles, and who has turned the rainbow jersey into his own.