“The most important thing is to be at my best in two or three weeks” - Remco Evenepoel makes World Championships priority clear ahead of Canadian return
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel has returned to Canada for the first time since 2019 with two WorldTour races immediately ahead of him, but the Belgian has made clear that his main target lies slightly further down the road at the World Championships in Montreal.
Evenepoel will line up at the GP Quebec on Friday and GP Montreal on Sunday in his first competitive appearances since winning the Clasica San Sebastian at the beginning of August.
Both races form part of his final preparation for a World Championships where he will chase rainbow jerseys in both the individual time trial and elite men's road race.
“Honestly, I haven't really thought about the race yet,” Evenepoel told the Canadian press after arriving. “There are still a few days until the race. I'm mainly just happy to be here. It's been a while, because the last time I was here was in 2019. There are three important weeks coming up, but at the moment I feel good.”
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Evenepoel has deliberately arrived in Canada with the World Championships as the end goal rather than attempting to reach peak condition for the first of his two races. “For me, this is really preparation for the World Championships,” he said. “They are my first races since San Sebastian. I'm here with ambitions as well, but the most important thing for me is to be at my best in two or three weeks.”
He does not arrive short of major results in 2026. Evenepoel won the Amstel Gold Race during a spring in which he also finished third at both the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, before going on to take second overall at the Tour de France.
His Tour included victories on the summit finish at Plateau de Solaison and in the following day's individual time trial, before he returned to one-day racing six days after Paris and won the Clasica San Sebastian.
The Canadian block now gives him another opportunity to build race rhythm before the rainbow jerseys are decided. “It's been a long time since I raced on these roads, so it's good to explore the area again and refresh my memory,” Evenepoel explained. “We're going to make the best of it and then we'll see. In any case, I'm motivated to do well.”
That familiarity should become particularly useful in Montreal. Sunday's GP Montreal takes Evenepoel back onto the kind of repeated, punchy climbing terrain that will again define the World Championships road race in the same city later this month.
Chance to reclaim the rainbow jersey after Kigali silver
Evenepoel already owns one elite men's road race world title, won through a long-range attack in Wollongong in 2022. He has since finished fifth at the 2024 World Championships in Zurich and took silver in Kigali last year, where only Tadej Pogacar finished ahead of him. The Slovenian will not defend his title in Montreal after his 2026 season was ended by the injuries suffered in his Vuelta a Espana crash.
Evenepoel's World Championships record is even stronger against the clock. He arrives in Canada as the three-time defending elite men's time trial world champion after consecutive victories in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Belgium will also head into the road race with two major options. Evenepoel and Wout van Aert are the recognised leaders of a squad completed by Tiesj Benoot, Maxim Van Gils, Alec Segaert, Quinten Hermans, Thibau Nys and Gianni Vermeersch.
Before that fight for the rainbow jersey begins, Evenepoel has Quebec and Montreal to sharpen his condition after more than a month away from competition. His own timetable leaves little doubt about when he wants to reach his highest level: the World Championships on September 27.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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