"If he wants, we can sit down together and I’ll show him" - Tension grows between Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna
CyclingWednesday, 23 September 2026 at 12:00
At the time trial World Championships, Remco Evenepoel won with almost a minute over Filippo Ganna. The Italian argued he was racing at his best level, and defended his stance after Remco Evenepoel has doubted it.
"Numerically we did everything well, I have nothing to complain about," Ganna said following the race. The 39-kilometer long flat course saw Evenepoel take the win, even though the technical sections would've expectedly favoured the Italian.
“He says that every time, whether he wins or not. If that were really the case, I think he would have finished much closer to my time,” Evenepoel said in words to Het Laatste Nieuws.
The now four-time rainbow jersey in the discipline has taken his most dominant victory out of all in this race over Ganna, and doubts that his rival actually rode the numbers that he claimed to hve done.
“I get Filippo’s disappointment. Like I said: in a virtually flat time trial like this, he undoubtedly hoped to finish much closer to me. In the past, he used to gain a lot of time on me in those very corners. But I’ve worked hard on that and gained a lot of experience".
Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel at the podium of the World Championships
Filippo Ganna responds to Evenepoel
In words to Eurosport, Ganna did not take well to Evenepoel's statements:
“I have great respect for Remco as a person and an athlete; I don’t question anything. He rode incredibly fast, and I know I rode fast too. If he wants, we can sit down together and I’ll show him the time trial data; I have no problem showing it to him".
The two have a heated rivalry that, in this week's CyclingUpToDate Podcast, has been compared to that of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. But at the end of the day, there is respect from Ganna who is travelling home in the meantime.
"I’m happy he won. And I hope he does very well on Sunday, too. Now I’m heading home, and I’ll follow Sunday’s race from there—after Leonardo Basso’s wedding. I wish the Italian team the best of luck; they deserve it.”
Evenepoel aims for road race title
Next year, Evenepoel will race the Haute-Savoie World Championships and have the possibility of adding a fifth title - which would make him the sole record holder.
“Well, things can change quickly. Of course, I’m aiming for a fifth consecutive world title in 2027, but that’s no guarantee of future success. I focus on what I’m doing and where I can improve. It’s up to Filippo and his team to find a solution for that.”
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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Doper Horner spewing his $hit again! YAWN !frieders323-09-2026
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- Glad to hear it!AndrewK22-09-2026
- I’d say there’s a 50% chance of a Remco/Wout/MVDP podium but won’t wet myself trying to attribute an order. 80% chance 2 of them medal. Again, not going to try to predict which 2Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
- Yep, as far as I know, Pog only wins road cycling, doubt he’d win on the track or break the hour record, or do that well at any of the other cycling disciplines that get rainbow jerseys. I think Vos managed to collect 5 different ones.Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
- At least you don’t have to pay attention to anyone or road clutter. Sometimes it’s more relaxing to be in front than surrounded by nervous movers. As for the peleton, I thought there was a chase group in between too? And in the end, nobody knows how deep he really went, he may have kept back a little in case of necessity.Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
- Would have been so much more interesting to have them ride the elite course so we could discuss a second asterisk for PS not riding.Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
- Ganna was not actually much better than the very young 4th nobody is speaking about, the crash kind of hides the reality, Remco is smaller, Jakob is younger, Paul is younger and not even a specialist, Ganna’s days of domination are slowly coming to an end, if not already over.Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
- I would have a very good look at the aerodynamics of his upper body positioning compared to e.g. RE, seems to me he’s using far too many watts fighting against wind. We aren’t all born to slipstream so unless he’s prepared to start looksmaxxing, he’s not going to catch up now that all the youngsters are already being prepared for this discipline at an early age. It’s similar to swimming, if you don’t sculpt your profile for it very early on, your body will never naturally optimise for something so unnatural.Jumpyjohn22-09-2026
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