“We’ve taken another big step forward” – Remco Evenepoel sends 2027 warning shot with emphatic Chrono des Nations triumph
Cycling
Remco Evenepoel used his final race of the season to test his time trial equipment for 2027 and finished it having caught the man who came second. His first elite Chrono des Nations victory brought a winning margin of more than two minutes, with further wind-tunnel work already scheduled before his winter holiday.
“It looked pretty good. Everything felt great,” Evenepoel said of the equipment test in his post-race flash interview. “We’ve taken another big step forward for next year, and it looks very promising.”
The world champion covered the 45.43km course around Les Herbiers in 49:53.68, averaging approximately 54.6km/h. Jay Vine finished 2:11 behind, despite starting two minutes ahead of the Belgian, while three-time winner Stefan Küng completed the podium at 2:27.8.
A 14th victory on his final race day
Evenepoel had established a 27-second advantage over Küng inside the opening 10.5km. Through the middle of the course, he extended that gap to 1:47 at the 34km checkpoint, where Vine was already 1:55 down. Shortly afterwards, the Australian was caught and passed.
“This was my last chance to take a victory, so I started with plenty of motivation on this wonderful course,” Evenepoel said after securing his 14th win of the season.
Vine recovered enough ground on Küng over the closing kilometres to take second for the third successive year. Evenepoel had won the junior event in 2018, but his previous elite appearances had ended with fifth in 2021 and second behind Josh Tarling in 2023.
“I’m happy to have finally won here,” he said. “It’s a really beautiful course. I know these roads by heart, and it certainly wouldn’t look out of place in the Tour de France.”
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More testing before the holidays
Evenepoel had already raced his latest Specialized time trial bike to a fourth consecutive world title in Montreal. The standalone event in Les Herbiers offered another competitive outing on the equipment before preparations moved into the winter.
His racing season is complete, but the holiday will have to wait until after team days with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and a week in the United States for wind-tunnel testing with Specialized.
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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MarkFour18-10-2026 - Good grief, who proofreads this stuff? Errors abound.wrsty18-10-2026
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