“You cannot forget that jet lag is involved” - Remco Evenepoel’s Montreal fifth comes with Greg Van Avermaet warning ahead of World Championships
CyclingWednesday, 16 September 2026 at 16:00
Remco Evenepoel's Canadian WorldTour double-header produced two very different results. He returned from more than a month without racing to win the GP Quebec, then finished fifth two days later on the Montreal circuit that will decide the rainbow jersey on September 27.
Isaac Del Toro and Paul Seixas were already up the road when Evenepoel crossed the line on Sunday, but Greg Van Avermaet believes the Belgian's result needs to be viewed alongside a preparation programme designed to peak later than the Canadian races.
Evenepoel had spent three and a half weeks at altitude in Livigno before travelling to Canada and had already been explicit about his priorities before pinning on a number.
“For me, this is really preparation for the World Championships,” he said ahead of the two Canadian GPs. “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.”
Van Avermaet believes that timetable matters when assessing what happened in Montreal. “You cannot forget that jet lag is involved,” the former Olympic champion and two-time GP Montreal winner told Sporza. “That is still pretty tough. He has also been at altitude, where he will have worked very hard. I think the supercompensation will come a little later.”
Evenepoel was runner-up in the men's road race at the 2025 Worlds in Kigali
Evenepoel's planned peak is still to come
Evenepoel arrived in Quebec only days after completing his altitude camp, having taken five days of rest after winning the Clasica San Sebastian before heading to Livigno.
His immediate victory in Quebec showed that a month away from competition had not taken away his ability to win, but Van Avermaet believes the full effect of the training block could take longer to appear. “I have made that trip often enough myself,” he said. “You only fly on Thursday and arrive at the hotel very late. You ride easy a couple of times and then immediately have those two races.”
Van Avermaet expects the days after Canada to be important, with Evenepoel able to absorb the travel and racing before another short training block. “I think things can fall into place after those two races. If you can then put in a block of two or three really good training days, I think you can improve a little from that.”
The altitude work is another part of that calculation. “I think he arrived in Quebec just a little too soon after that altitude camp,” Van Avermaet added, arguing that the expected benefit had not yet had enough time to fully emerge.
Evenepoel himself had said something similar before racing. His aim in Quebec and Montreal was to “become competitive again” and reconnect with his best sensations rather than arrive already at his World Championships peak.
Van Avermaet had nevertheless expected more in Montreal after seeing him win two days earlier. “Honestly, I thought Montreal would suit him even better than Quebec, but apparently he had a slightly worse day,” he admitted.
The fifth place did at least provide a reminder of what awaits when Evenepoel returns. “It keeps him watchful and alert,” Van Avermaet said. “It also makes clear that it will not be straightforward.”
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Del Toro and Seixas strengthen their Worlds cases
Montreal also changed the picture around Evenepoel. Del Toro and Seixas made the decisive final-lap move and fought out victory between themselves on the same finishing circuit that will be used at the World Championships. Brandon McNulty and Quinn Simmons also crossed the line before Evenepoel, with Tom Pidcock immediately behind him in sixth.
Del Toro's victory offered the clearest possible demonstration that his form translates onto the Worlds course. Seixas was beaten in the sprint, but the 19-year-old had already won La Fleche Wallonne, finished second at Liege-Bastogne-Liege and taken fourth overall on his Tour de France debut before reaching Canada.
“Even without Pogacar, the competition is not insignificant,” Van Avermaet warned. “We should not immediately assume that he will become world champion so easily. There are still a number of other favourites.”
The course itself gives several different types of rider reason for optimism. Rather than one long decisive ascent, the elite men's road race accumulates around 3,800 metres of climbing through repeated efforts around Mount Royal. “It is mainly the succession of those climbs,” Van Avermaet said. “That is going to be pretty demanding.”
He sees Del Toro and Seixas as obvious beneficiaries of that repetition, but does not believe the climbing automatically eliminates heavier Classics riders such as Wout van Aert or Mathieu van der Poel.
“On a good day, those guys can survive it,” he said. The later climb towards the university and slightly uphill finish, Van Avermaet believes, could make riders of that profile extremely dangerous if they survive into a reduced group.
Van Aert gives Belgium a second route to victory
Van Aert arrives in Montreal from a Vuelta a Espana in which he won two stages and the green jersey, adding another in-form leader to a Belgian team already built around Evenepoel.
Their routes to the rainbow jersey do not necessarily have to look the same. Evenepoel remains the more obvious long-range attacking option, while Van Aert would become increasingly dangerous if a reduced group survives through the final climbs. Van Avermaet expects the latter to leave Spain “in extremely good shape, with a lot of confidence”.
That depth also affects how much responsibility Belgium should accept. “There are different scenarios possible. In many of those scenarios, Belgium still have a good card to play,” Van Avermaet said.
Rather than controlling every move, he would prefer Belgium to stay represented without exposing their two leaders too early. “We should not take too much responsibility for the race, but we should not let it get away from us either,” he argued, with the rest of the squad capable of covering moves before Evenepoel and Van Aert are required.
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Canada ultimately gave Belgium both reassurance and warning. Evenepoel won immediately after his altitude block, but Del Toro and Seixas then beat him on the circuit that matters most.
Van Avermaet still regards Evenepoel as the leading favourite. The question heading into September 27 is whether the delayed peak both he and Evenepoel expect arrives when the rainbow jersey is actually on the line.
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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- altitude training and jet lag affects everyone differently, but all of the riders are traveling from Europe. no one can really use that an excuse. It will hit all of them in some way.mij16-09-2026
- yes, they're terrible, and management seems delusional.mij16-09-2026
- ok...PogiSloFans16-09-2026
- Hahahaha lol father as arrogant as son. Remco would have finished 3rd. Has he ever beaten Vin in a grand tour. Great rider for classics and mini stage races but his PR staff need to start earning their pay he is still a total tool and not very well liked within the peleton.paultryan200216-09-2026
- provided that pogi will (need to) come back to the vuelta in 2027 to finish what he started, the vuelta will ultimately have benefited from his crashout this year ... they get to have him as a headliner 2 years in a row!Ketterechts16-09-2026
- we are witnessing the dismantling of a team that dominated the peloton for a long time. the past few years have been grim, and with the current personnel policy, the years ahead are unlikely to be any better.Ketterechts16-09-2026
- like father like sonmij16-09-2026
- lucky guy. good for him for signing the big contract. surprised IPT coughed up the money considering the extent of it.mij16-09-2026
- vos is going for gravelmij16-09-2026
- wow 50 is insane. good for him.mij16-09-2026
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