"I thought in the first intermediate I kind of overpaced" - 'Wonderful' legs earn Remco Evenepoel another world title
CyclingSunday, 20 September 2026 at 21:33
Remco Evenepoel has won the opening event on the men's side of the 2026 World Championships. The Belgian rider was the main favourite for this Sunday's 'main event', and has delivered on an historical triumph in Montréal.
"It's amazing. It was obviously the goal to come her and win for the fourth time in a row," he admitted in a post-race interview. At the first intermediate point, it already looked clear that the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe was the strongest on the day, having taken time on his rivals through the technical start section, which also featured no uphill gradients.
As he did throughout every single individual time trial this year, Evenepoel was the best against the clock. "It was a big motivation, and I just have to thank the whole team around me again for the preparation. To Specialized: For the new material they made; and obviously I had a very fast time today, very happy with the feeling, the cornering..."
Evenepoel was untouchable. Whilst Filippo Ganna's pacing strategy saw him gain positions over the intermediate points, in no point did he manage to reduce the time loss on Evenepoel. At the finish line, a whole 57 seconds in 39 kilometers.
Remco Evenepoel winning the fourth world title
Technical course doesn't stop Evenepoel
"It was a very demanding course with a technical start and finish, a powerful part in the middle. I'm super happy, it was a wonderful experience".
Evenepoel admits however that he thought he was going too hard at the start, but that didn't turn out to be the case. "Honestly yeah, after 6 k [ilometers] we had a personal time check and I knew I was already ahead of the rest. I thought in the first intermediate I kind of over paced, but I could kind of keep pushing".
Evenepoel with his best legs
Evenepoel did not go harder than what he could sustain. Instead, he had his best legs to deliver a long and consistent performance throughout almost 45 minutes. "I just had a wonderful feeling whole day, so it's a wonderful start to the worlds".
The focus will now go towards the road race. "Yeah obviously I think there's quite some time to rest out now and enjoy this special one. Then yeah, full focus on Sunday from Tuesday onwards.
But for the time being, Evenepoel gets to enjoy a taste of history, as the new record holder of the time trial title.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- Until crashing, Jacob was mine and he still did well. Another youngster with a big future. As for Remco, it’s time he took on the hour challenge. If anyone is going to break it, it’s him.Mistermaumau20-09-2026
- And we (dome more than others) all complain all the time about him doing it. Good thing there’s no website for people to complain about CUTD posters, right? Although I guess all those from CN complaining about it who came for a look early on and left must have gone back there and are now complaining about us instead.Mistermaumau20-09-2026
- About how I thought it would go but Seixas third place is astonishing.awp20-09-2026
- Bringing this thread back to your suggestion I am not in a position to criticise SS due to not having achieved enough (of the kind of things YOU would value), I will just point out it’s a pretty risky bet to make as you know even less about me than her. I’ve not let on to that much here over the years but believe me, you’d quieten down quite quickly if you knew half of it and if you actually want to, it’s not hard to organise without revealing sensitive personal information so just let me know and we can continue this in private. I had to laugh even more when I read the latest because somehow you always manage end up in situations or with questions or suggestions where you make it easier for me to reply. Amongst the many other things I’ve done in life, I had the pleasure (and misfortune) of working with or for numerous photographers (and also in an advertising agency) and what I can tell you from all those experiences is that your experience is not a given, because depending mostly on the kind of people you surround yourself with for a project like things can go from extremely badly to extremely well.Mistermaumau20-09-2026
- Love him or hate him, Remco Evenepoel is the preeminent time trialist of our generation, and that was an impressive performance. Congratulations to him on his fourth consecutive title.
santiagobenites20-09-2026 - No idea who will win but seeing this and Remco and Paul and a few others should make next week extremely competitive and strategic. Teams will be working overtime on plans now.Mistermaumau20-09-2026
- Bäckstedt is a phenom, but Reusser was simply far better. On PCS they had a chart of the first 5 in comparison to each other. Of them, Reusser started tied for slowest and then sped up over the last 3/4 of the race. Fabulous!RidesHills20-09-2026
- One performance after the next sets up next weekend as a fabulous road raceRidesHills20-09-2026
- Seixas is my surprise, and Evenepoel was as usual dominant. What a ride, power and form better than anyone else. Congratulations!RidesHills20-09-2026
- It was amazing!!!averagecyclist20-09-2026
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