"Evenepoel will certainly benefit from this" - Not riding Vuelta could be Remco's advantage for World Championships
CyclingFriday, 28 August 2026 at 23:00
The 2026 Vuelta a Espana is in full swing, but with the general classification puzzle seemingly solved, the attention begins to slip away towards the road World Championships in Montreal. There, Pogacar will face a range of rivals who wish to prevent him from completing a hat-trick, and among them Remco Evenepoel stands out as last year's runner-up.
The Belgian seemingly has a big advantage - that instead of racing for three weeks in Spain, he could devote his time to training for a full month since his Clasica San Sebastian victory. And he also has the option to do a "test race" - the GP de Montréal on September 13.
The Grand Prix and World Championships share a largely similar course and yet, the races are like day and night, at least that is the assessment of Italian coach Pino Toni, formerly associated with projects of Saxo Bank, Tinkoff, and Katusha. Currently, he's in charge of Uzbekistan's national team.
"First of all, you have to consider that it becomes a completely different race," Toni tells Bici.pro. "The quantitative level at the World Championships is ultimately lower, because there are national selections."
Not all nations are going all-out
"For example, the Asians have the Asian Games, which are held six days earlier and are very important for them. I, who am with Uzbekistan, will bring only one man and one woman. The best, Nikita Tsvetkov, will stay for the track as well. The overall quality, therefore, drops. The teams are smaller and the race changes."
The concept with national teams often changes the dynamics of a race. While in a regular WorldTour race, even strong riders are allowed to join breakaway at times, none of strong nations wants to see a Belgian, Italian or French rider join the breakaway. That is why the early moves often lack significance for the race as only "outsider nations" are allowed to go.
Toni therefore draws the conclusion that, whether a rider rides the Montreal Grand Prix or not will have little implications for World Championships:
"Montreal is a race that can be reminiscent of Liège, but the World Championships will be completely different. In a WorldTour race, very good riders can break away; in a race for national teams, however, riders of that level are rarely let go. It becomes a much easier race to control. For this reason, in my opinion, in the end, doing it or not doing it makes relatively little sense."
Remco will want to win at all cost
Without Pogacar at the start, there's no doubt all eyes will be on Evenepoel during Grand Prix de Montreal. And the Belgian will want to prove to himself that beyond the Slovenian, he is the strongest in the peloton.
"Evenepoel will race to win it. I don't think many people will go there for a walk. It's a WorldTour race, it brings a lot of points, and in any case, it's a one-day race two weeks before the World Championships. You'll be strong, you have to be."
"When you're there, you have to go flat out. And what data do you give us? You know he can do it that way, and the only one who can do it better is Pogacar. Period. The teams know the values. There's not that much math involved, in some respects."
It's but a small advantage
Of course, the fact that Evenepoel will be in Canada roughly two weeks ahead of Pogacar brings other unfathomable advantages. The acclimatization, knowledge of the terrain, or just familiarity with the area could be of use to the Belgian. Although Pogacar knows the course very well after he had won there twice (2022, 2024) while he gifted the 2025 title to teammate Brandon McNulty.
"There are fifteen days between the end of the Vuelta and the World Championships. Evenepoel will certainly benefit from this in terms of acclimatization, as he'll arrive much earlier. Then, since he'll also be competing in the time trial, he'll be there for a long time. You have a slightly different vision, you feel more at home," Toni explains.
Tadej Pogacar wins the 2025 World Championships
Specifics of the course
And even though the Montreal circuit is not the most technical on the calendar, it is true that having a proper grasp of the race's center-point climb Mount Royal could be the decisive detail between victory and defeat.
"Also because in the end it's a 1.6 kilometer climb: I saw that the hard part of the climb is 1.6 kilometers, of which 700 meters average a 9 percent gradient. Then there's a steep descent, with a sharp bend, and the gradient exceeds 10 percent. You have the opportunity to ride it a lot more and get familiar with certain sections. But in the end, it's a route everyone knows . Anyone who's done Montreal knows that route more than well."
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Strength of collective
Finally, the team quality should not be underestimated. Unlike the race in Kigali, no such selective climb as the Mont Kigali will reduce the bunch drastically. At 2.3km and 6.2% in average, Cote de Camillien-Houde is a climb that many other Belgian riders can overcome close enough to the best duo to play a role late into the race. Meanwhile in Slovenian team, only Primoz Roglic can play a similar role.
"Evenepoel has the team on his side. If anyone can give him trouble, it's Belgium. Van Aert is one of those who, if he breaks away, has to be caught. And maybe even with a Dane in the mix, I'm thinking of Skjelmose, for example. Denmark has a good team. Pedersen could also be the last to break away. And maybe there could even be a Bettiol in this breakaway."
"Pogacar is a bit more isolated in this sense. But it's clear that, if that's what we're seeing at the Vuelta, even if they lose two minutes, he'd still be able to close the gap. Look, the other day at the Vuelta, when he started, he wasn't at full speed. As a rule, if Pogacar is healthy, he'd win anyway . Even if Belgium were to ride well. And even if Evenepoel races in the Montreal GP."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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