Patrick Lefevere confident that World Championships time-trial is perfect for Evenepoel: "Tailor-made for Remco, with quite a lot of elevation"

The World Championships begin this Sunday already in Zurich and amongst the headliners will be Remco Evenepoel. In the time-trial event he is the defending champion and he heads to the race with a golden bike after his success in Paris. We will now see if he can defend himself in a course that has Patrick Lefevere state is perfect for the Belgian.

“I hear positive signals from Zurich. Our development manager Nicolas Coosemans is on site with Remco Evenepoel and tells us that it is an exceptionally beautiful time trial course. Tailor-made for Remco, with quite a lot of elevation," Lefevere said in his weekly Het Nieuwsblad column. "But also technical and in a beautiful setting. In our WhatsApp conversation I asked how the champion is feeling. Nicolas replied: ‘Super motivated’.”

All the signs are good for the Soudal - Quick-Step rider who had a bad period of form over the past month - including the Tour of Britain where he returned to competition - but has recently regained good feelings on the bike. He is seemingly coming to the Worlds with confidence, and in the time-trial he has proven time and time again to be able to perform on all kinds of conditions and terrains.

“Remco would like to keep his jersey for another year, but I wonder: can you peak three times in one year? Remco was aiming for the spring, then the Tour and the [Olympic] Games. That's more than a plate full. You see it with many of the Olympians. Filippo Ganna has been in a slump since Paris, Joshua Tarling hasn't found his best legs yet either," Lefevere argues. However, it can be counter-argued that at the Criterium du Dauphiné Evenepoel was also far from his best form but took a strong victory in the time-trial - something that is becoming more normal, with the outstanding evolution in aerodynamics from some riders/teams.

"Remco was also in a slump after the Games, as trainer Koen Pelgrim put it. He had a few difficult weeks, but now I saw another tough training on Strava: seven hours of cycling. 260 kilometers in total, with 3,594 meters of elevation. It's the common denominator of all great champions: no matter how successful they are, the most important race is always the next one," Lefevere said of his star.

Additionally, he also confirms that Il Lombardia is in the program, alongside other Italian Autumn classics: "Remco will definitely continue until Lombardy, where he still has an outstanding bill after his fall into the ravine. I suspect that races such as Coppa Bernocchi and Giro dell'Emilia will also be on his program."